Engineering mechanics student awarded Stippes Scholarship

Ryan Mott

Ryan Mott, a junior in engineering mechanics, was awarded the Marvin C. Stippes Scholarship for 2011.

The Marvin C. Stippes Scholarship is one of many departmental scholarships for students in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. It is awarded to current junior undergraduate students in the Engineering Mechanics program for outstanding academic achievement, and comes with a monetary award of $1,500.

“It was a shock, but very much a nice surprise,” Mott said.

Mott entered the Engineering Mechanics program as a freshman, after receiving a letter from the department the previous year outlining the mechanical engineering and engineering mechanics majors.

“It showed how broad engineering mechanics was…it just had a lot of options,” Mott said. “So since I was unsure coming out of high school about what I wanted to do, I thought a broad major would be good.”

That decision ultimately helped him decide what he was really passionate about: aerospace.

“I’ve always liked the thought of flying, ever since I was a kid,” Mott said. “As I went through college, I started to focus more on what I was really interested in. I knew that engineering mechanics could lead to aerospace as a master’s, since the two are pretty related; I took a fluids class for my major that covers air movement, and a thermodynamics class which is all about engines. Those two directly tie in to aerospace.”

Because Mott is an engineering mechanics major, he must chose a secondary field for his major in which further specialization is pursued. Because he selected aerospace engineering, he also takes several classes in that area along with his engineering mechanics curriculum.

Mott plans on pursuing a master’s degree in aerospace engineering after graduation. While he is considering schools far away from Champaign-Urbana, he says the University of Illinois is still his first choice.

“I really like the program here,” Mott said.