3/7/2024
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Mechanical engineering seniors Hrushikesha Athreya and Ximena Castillo have been named 2024 Knights of St. Patrick.
The Knight of St. Patrick is an honor awarded to students who demonstrate leadership characteristics, excellence of character, and exceptional contribution to The Grainger College of Engineering. The award originated at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where students claimed St. Patrick must have been an engineer to have been able to drive all the snakes from Ireland, and since then the honor has represented excellence in engineering fields.
Athreya is a senior earning a dual degree in mechanical engineering and engineering physics with a minor in astronomy. He currently serves as President of the student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME); a Consulting Engineer and Former President of Illinois Robotics in Space; and Business Director for MechSE MakerWorks.
He is also a dome telescope operator for the University of Illinois Astronomical Society, and a varsity student-athlete on the Illinois Rowing Team. In addition, an undergraduate researcher for the Observational Cosmology Laboratory working on the Terahertz Intensity Mapper, which is a stratospheric ballooning experiment that will launch from the South Pole to look at light from the early Universe.
Next fall, Athreya plans to continue his education in graduate school. “While I am currently in the process of deciding exactly where I want to go, I will be starting my PhD in physics with a focus on astronomical instrumentation, which is essentially doing engineering for astrophysical purposes such as detectors, telescopes, and balloons. My career goal is to become a physics faculty member.”
In his free time, Athreya enjoys hiking and being outdoors. He has visited over 25 national parks, with a goal of visiting all of them someday.
Castillo is also a senior in mechanical engineering, graduating in May. Throughout her college career she has been heavily involved in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), for which she currently serves as Internal Vice President. She is also an active member of the Morrill Engineering Program (MEP), having served as an MEP mentor last fall, and now on the Core Welcome Committee Team. She said she is excited to study abroad in Jamaica with MEP next week during spring break.
After graduation, Castillo will move to Southern California to work for Boeing, where she was accepted into their Engineering Foundational Career Program, a rotational program lasting two years, with four different six-month rotations.
“I am very excited for this next chapter of my life, and receiving the Knights award before graduation is truly an honor. I am grateful for all of those who have impacted me on this journey and helped me get to where I am today!”
Complete list of 2024 Knights of St. Patrick
Hrushi Athreya (MechSE/Eng Phys)
Ximena Castillo (MechSE)
Cain Gonzalez (ECE)
Cornell Horne Jr. (ECE)
Kira Martin (MatSE)
Ariya Patel (ISE)
Rohini Ramesh (Aero)
Walker Rickord (BioE)
Joshua Sekyere (ISE)
Shivam Tailor (MatSE)
Liz Zhang (Eng Phys)