The Engineering Department is pleased to announce our annual year-end student awards. This list of awardees represents just the tip of the iceberg of the amazing engineering students at Hope College. Descriptions of the awards and some information about the recipients are give below.
Senior Engineering Prize
Shelby Harper was selected by the engineering faculty to received the Senior Engineering Prize. This award is given to the senior student who is the most outstanding student in engineering. Shelby served the department as a teaching assistant, help session leader, and grader for countless courses. She was always eager to help the department in any way. After graduating in just 3.5 years, she is now working in Dayton, Ohio at KBR Inc. as a Research and Development Engineer supporting contracts at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
The VanPutten Engineering Design Prize
The VanPutten Prize is given by the Engineering faculty to a graduating engineering student who shows exceptional ability, interest, and accomplishment in engineering design. This award is named in honor of Professor James VanPutten in recognition of his accomplishments in engineering design and his efforts to establish the engineering program at Hope College. This year’s recipient was Theodore Roffey. Theo’s senior design project focused on a radiator design for the Hope College’s Formula Racing Car (Formula SAE). Over the past four years, Theo has been heavily involved in Formula SAE and served as the team captain during the 2020-2021 academic year. After graduation, Theo plans on working as an engineer at Innotec.
Blok-Williams Graduate Study Award
Matthew Dickerson received the Blok-Williams award, which is given to a graduate school bound senior student for excellence in the study of the field of engineering. Matthew was involved in Hope College’s Engineers Without Borders and served as the project leader during a team trip to Bondo, Kenya. Matthew also participated in several cultural exchange programs at Hope, including Technos International Week in Tokyo, Japan. this summer Matthew will be interning at OWL Biomedical in Santa Barbara, CA and in the fall, he will be attending Purdue University to pursue a PhD in power and electrical engineering.
Paul Baeverstad Award
The selection of the Paul Baeverstad Award recipient is based on a vote of the senior class of engineering students. It is given in recognition of a student who is valued as a superior engineer, classmate, and friend. This year’s winner was Rachel Foy. Rachel was very involved in Hope College’s Society of Women Engineers , serving as the president during the 2020-2021 academic year. She also was a dual major in engineering and business. After graduation, Rachel plans on working at Consumer’s Energy as a rotational engineer.
Freshman Engineering Prize
The Freshman Engineering Prize is given to recognize the achievement of the best first-year students in Engineering. These students have already shown a strong ability to understand and express engineering concepts. The two students to receive the award this year were Yeageon Song and Gabriella Bishop. When asked about what he enjoyed about Hope, Yeageon said, “I enjoyed spending time with my friends and it was also my first time experiencing so much snow, so that was great as well.”
Gabriella’s response was, “With my first year at Hope College coming to an end, I can honestly say that although I came here with high expectations, Hope has succeeded in exceeding those expectations. There is a certain energy at Hope that is infectious and I believe it starts with the enthusiastic updates from President Scogin along with the passion my professors show in the classroom and the kindness I encounter everyday by my colleagues. I am grateful that Hope was able to maintain as many classes as possible in-person, as I feel strongly that this has been instrumental to my academic success. The professors here at Hope have played a huge role in my education, first and foremost by getting to know me personally. I am blessed to be surrounded by people who want me to succeed and are there to help me achieve my goals. In a year where there have been so many challenges due to the pandemic, Hope College has been a blessing for which I am truly grateful.”
The Engineering Department offers heartfelt congratulations to all of this year’s award winners!