MechSE undergraduate women named Knights of St. Patrick

 

Three of MechSE’s top-notch undergraduates have been honored as Knights of St. Patrick for 2017. 

 

Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi, Liz Livingston, and Karla Rivero Valles won the award this year, which recognizes just a handful of students among the departments in the College of Engineering. 

 

The Knight of St. Patrick is an annual award given to students who represent leadership, excellence in character, and individual contributions to the College of Engineering. It is one of the college’s highest honors.

 

Dosunmu-Ogunbi is a senior in mechanical engineering with a Hoeft Technology and Management minor. Since coming to Illinois she has visited seven different countries, completed a co-op with Toyota, and worked in two research labs. She is also heavily involved in several organizations on campus including Pi Tau Sigma, the National Society of Black Engineers, and Engineering at Illinois First Year Experience. Upon graduating in May she will go on to graduate school to pursue a PhD in hopes of one day becoming a professor.

 

Livingston is a senior majoring in engineering mechanics with a secondary field in biomechatronics and a minor in computational science and engineering. She joined the Society for Engineering Mechanics (SEM) during her freshman year. “I was immediately inducted into the TAM family and wanted to help it grow and improve,” she said. Thanks to her involvement, she helped to double SEM membership, start a new TAM 2xx committee, and restructure the organization by renaming it and developing a new mission statement and executive board format. She has also been a member of the Illinois Track and Field team as a pole vaulter. And Livingston was a MechSE ELA this past year and was involved in the Blue Waters Student Internship, conducting undergraduate research with Professor Arif Masud. She plans to continue her education with graduate school here at the University of Illinois in TAM, and aims to find a career in prosthetic and assistive devices.

 

Rivero Valles is a junior in mechanical engineering pursuing a minor in the Hoeft Technology and Management Program. In addition to her studies, she is president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), serves as an Engineering Learning Assistant, and is a research assistant in MechSE assistant professor Shelby Hutchens’ research group. In the past, Karla has completed internships with Caterpillar at the Research Park, Procter and Gamble, and Boeing. In summer 2017, she will complete an internship with Abbott Laboratories.

 

Lama Aoudi, CEE

Dana Nikolaeva Chambourova, CS

Sujay Khandekar, CS

Mark Hafter, ECE

Neil Bhide, ECE

Omar Joya, ECE

Athena Lin, MatSE

Grace Pakeltis, MatSE

Elizabeth Livingston, MechSE

Karla Christina Rivero Valles, MechSE

Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi, MechSE

Aristidis Loumis, NPRE

Kathryn Mummah, NPRE