Six students were recognized as Penn State Altoona's first cohort of Engineering Scholars at a presentation ceremony on April 28. Left to Right: Jennilyn Vallejera, ELD program coordinator; Brant Kensinger; Thanatat Thanaravisara; Jacob Dicken; Matthew Mackereth; Jared Kish; and Todd Batzel, interim division head, Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences and Technology. Missing from photo: Nathanial Moore.
ALTOONA, Pa. — Penn State Altoona recognized six students as the college’s first cohort of Engineering Scholars at a presentation ceremony on April 28.
The newly named Engineering Scholars were jointly appointed by the Penn State Altoona Engineering Leadership Development (ELD) program, the Office of Research and Engagement, and the Division of Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences and Technology.
The ELD program, in partnership with the College of Engineering at the University Park campus, offers Altoona students advanced technical electives in leadership principles, project management, technology-based entrepreneurship, leadership in organizations, and international collaboration. An 18-credit undergraduate minor also is available to students, as is an Engineering Leadership Society for professional enrichment.
The first students honored as Engineering Scholars are Jared Kish, from rail transportation engineering, and Jacob Dicken, Brant Kensinger, Matthew Mackereth, Nathanial Moore and Thanatat Thanaravisara, all from electro-mechanical engineering technology. Students received a Nittany Lion memento to celebrate their achievement.
“Our Engineering Scholars have demonstrated superior academic performance in two challenging degree programs,” said Corey Gracie-Griffin, associate dean for research and engagement. “They have great potential to positively impact the engineering profession and society at large.”
The Engineering Scholar honor will be bestowed annually to students who are in their third year of study in a four-year Penn State Altoona Engineering degree program, are in the top 20% of their class with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and who have exhibited professional maturity in their interaction with faculty, staff and peers.
Steven Betza, a 1982 Penn State engineering graduate and retired Lockheed Martin corporate director, serves as a professor of practice, a periodic executive-in-residence, and career mentor for ELD.
“It is with great pleasure that we name our inaugural cohort of Engineering Scholars,” said Betza. “I look forward to their future growth and achievements as Penn State engineers.”
For questions related to the Engineering Leadership Development program or the Engineering Scholar designation, contact Jennilyn Vallejera, assistant teaching professor and program coordinator for ELD, at [email protected].
