College recognizes outstanding seniors

The College of Engineering at North Carolina State University recognized outstanding seniors in four categories during a ceremony on May 10.

Patrick Balogh, a senior double majoring in textile engineering and international studies, received the Outstanding Senior Award for Humanities. Paul Nolan, a senior in materials science in engineering and political science, received the Senior Award for Leadership. Christopher Cooper, a senior in chemical and biomolecular engineering and economics, earned the Senior Award for Scholarly Achievement. Terence Chandler, a senior in mechanical and aerospace engineering, received the Senior Award for Service and Citizenship.

The College’s academic departments nominated seniors in all four categories. The winners and nominees were honored during a banquet at the NC State University Club.

Balogh is a Ben Franklin Scholar and member of the University Honors Program. He maintained a 4.0 grade point average and has received several merit-based scholarships such as the Thomas J. Watson Memorial Scholarship and the William T. Kretzer Family Scholarship.

His desire to understand the world and its cultures has led him to a study-abroad experience in Freiburg, Germany. Balogh has participated in undergraduate research with a postdoctoral fellow working on data analysis of molecular simulations of polymer films adhered to glass surfaces. Also, he has worked as a design engineer intern at McAllister Mills and as a project lead and proposal author with the Cotton Compost Sustainability Fund Project. He was not able to attend the awards ceremony.

As student body president for the 2016-17 academic year, Nolan guided executive directors responsible for institutional change and represented the University to government officials, private donors, alumni and distinguished speakers, and represented the interests of about 34,000 students.

A Benjamin Franklin Scholar, he has dedicated his undergraduate experience to honing his leadership skills as a university scholar promoting civic and global engagement and completing the Visionary Leaders Certificate program of the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics, & Public Service.

Nolan has helped implement a pilot program for high school students with visual impairments and blindness interest in STEM fields to increase diversity in engineering by empowering underrepresented students with disabilities. He was a founding member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity chapter leading students through professional development workshops and coordinating community outreach as service chair member. He also trained through Counselor Education in Student Development in Multicultural Student Affairs to be a peer mentor to first-year students of minority or underrepresented backgrounds.

Cooper maintained a 4.0 grade point average. He is both an NC State Park and Benjamin Franklin Scholar, a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar and recipient of the Churchill Scholarship. During his four years at NC State, he has also participated in the University Scholars.

Outside the classroom, he has taken leadership roles with the Park Scholarships program, Beta Theta Pi Fraternity and the Krispy Kreme Challenge. He is a co-founder and co-chair of Rapid Continuous Improvement (RCI) Park, leading an $80,000 renovation of the Park commons area and leading monthly think tanks in which scholars identify opportunities for enhancement within the program.

Cooper conducted undergraduate research with Dr. Michael Dickey’s group on creating and characterizing unique soft electronic devices using liquid metal and polymers. That work led to poster presentations at conferences and a pending patent application. He is co-author on three peer reviewed publications and first author on two.

Chandler is a leader in the NC State chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers

who has served as NC State Senator, NC State Membership Chairperson, NC State Treasurer and Region II Treasurer.

During his time on campus, he has also served as an NC State Co-op Program Ambassador and an NC State Engineering Ambassador. He has served as communications chairperson for the Christian Mentoring Association and, during a co-op rotation in Cincinnati, he participated in the University of Cincinnati’s Summer Enrichment Program as an academic coach for high school grade students.

Chandler is starting a nonprofit organization in partnership with a member of the Women and Minority Engineering Programs office at NC State. Recently, he helped host an event called Finding Your Voice. The intent was to educate attendees on North Carolina policy issues affecting them and their families including voting rights, gerrymandering, HB2, validity of news sources and many other topics.

Other nominees for the awards included:

Citizenship and Service

Ashle Page – Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE)

Jennifer Baglio – Department of Nuclear Engineering (NE)

John Alexander – Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE)

Laurel Timko – Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science (TECS)

Lauren Halsey – UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME)

Mark Demaria – Department of Computer Science (CSC)

Meredith Bullard – Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE)

Humanities                          

Gabriel DeCaro – NE

Alex Kim – CBE

Augustus Vieweg – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

Eric Polli – CCEE

Kai Presler Marshall – CSC

Rajan Singh – BME

Leadership                          

Andrew Cox – MAE

Jasmin Alsaied – NE

Marcus Fath – CSC

Pari Palizhati – CBE

Paul Burke – TECS

Shane Estridge – CCEE

Rizwan Dard – BME

Will Glasscock – ECE

Scholarly Achievement                             

Eric Horton – CSC

Hunter Bomba – BME

Jennifer Frix – ISE

Jiawen Liu – CCEE

Julia Rao – MAE

Julien Chomette – ECE

Sam Jasper – TE

Willliam Dawn – NE

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