[Faculty] VALEDICTORIAN - FACULTY VOTE

Fri Apr 12 11:11:58 PDT 2013

Goooooooooooooooood Morning College of Engineering *Faculty*,****

** **

It’s that time of year again to select *one* of our four department level
outstanding engineering graduates to be designated *Valedictorian* for this
year. Below, you are provided some information on each candidate along with
a little write-up provided by the department. You must then *respond with a
reply email* to *me* with your *“single”* *vote*. The *deadline* for *me*to
*receive votes* will be *Close of Business (COB) on Tuesday, April 16th**.**
***

*________________________________*****

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CANDIDATE #1

Department: Aerospace

Candidate: Dejan Samardzic

GPA: Major – 3.95; Cum – 3.94

Remarks:

Dejan Samardzic was born in Croatia and immigrated to the United States
with his family when he was 12 years old. He is multi-lingual (speaks five
languages fluently). Dejan (pronounced “Day-yon”) excelled in high school
in Santa Clarita, California. He joined the Navy to serve his adopted
country, learn a skill and obtain funding for college. He advanced rapidly
in the Navy to positions of increased responsibility, serving in Washington
D.C., Souda Bay, Greece and Anbar Province, Iraq. He was selected as the
honor graduate and class leader of his Engineering “A” School class in the
Navy. He was selected “Sailor of the Quarter” for Naval Facilities
Engineering Command. He has been on the Dean’s list throughout his
university career and co-authored a research paper on: Multi-Theory FEM
Architecture for the Generation of Advanced Mixed Shear Deformation
Theories Based on the Generalized Unified Formulation for Composite
Structures. Dejan has been hired as a design and development engineer by
MagCanica, a San Diego company that makes high performance wireless torque
sensors for a wide array of applications including Formula One race cars
and military vehicles.

__________________________________

CANDIDATE #2

Department: Civil, Construction, and Environmental

Candidate: David John Shields

GPA: Major – 3.93; Cum – 3.87

Remarks:

David Shields is the Outstanding Graduate of the Department of Civil,
Construction, and Environmental Engineering. David has maintained a 3.93
GPA in Civil Engineering, and has defined the word student-athlete by
having great success both in the classroom and on the football field. David
has been recognized as 2009-2012 Mountain West All Academic Team, 2010-2013
Malik Award (given to SDSU student athlete with highest GPA), and 2008-2013
Scholar-Athlete. While interning for Kiewit, a Fortune 500 contractor, he
was also an active member of Chi Epsilon and the American Society of Civil
Engineers student chapter, where he led the construction efforts of the
concrete canoe. David is an outstanding student, an outstanding athlete,
and an outstanding contributor to the Department and the College.

__________________________________

CANDIDATE #3

Department: Electrical and Computer

Candidate: Colin Jamison Fera

GPA: Major – 3.84; Cum – 3.50

Remarks:

I am pleased to nominate Mr. Colin Jamison Fera for the outstanding
graduate from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Colin has developed a passion for Electrical Engineering at a very early
age. By the time he was 12 years old, he was working on Electronics
projects and assembled test equipment in his closet at home for this
purpose. He told me that at the age of 12 he went to a swap meet and
carried an oscilloscope on his bike because he needed for one of his
projects. When he realized in 2000, that he did not have sufficient
resources to go to college after graduating from high school, he joined
Marine Corps to earn the GI bill that can pay for his college expenses. He
served the country for four years. During this time, Colin served as a
computer system specialist (network administrator) including deployment in
support of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2004, he left the Marine Corps
after serving honorably and started a civilian career as an engineer moving
rapidly to become a senior engineer earning six figure salary. In spite of
a stable job and a wonderful family with 2 kids, he felt that something was
missing. He realized that his thirst for knowledge and enquiry in his
favorite field of Electrical Engineering was the first reason he joined the
military so that he can get resources through the GI bill to realize this
dream. So he decided to sacrifice his income and join SDSU to pursue a BS
degree in Electrical Engineering. Colin will be graduating in spring 2013
from our department with a major GPA of 3.86. Faculty who had him in their
classes are amazed by his intelligence, maturity and desire to learn new
things. I have personal knowledge because he was in one of my classes. Apart
from his course work and part time job, he is also doing undergraduate
research in Dr. Ashrafi’s Digital Signal Processing Lab. Dr. Ashrafi states
“ Colin is hardworking, knowledgeable, professional and a gentleman”. His
future plans are to obtain an advanced degree in the field of Electrical
Engineering.

Mr. Colin Jamison Fera is exemplary not only for his accomplishments but
also for his perseverance and sacrifices necessary to realize his dream. The
Department Faculty are proud to nominate him as an outstanding graduate
from our department.

__________________________________

CANDIDATE #4

Department: Mechanical

Candidate: Carlos Nunes

GPA: Major – 3.92; Cum – 3.91

Remarks:

I was born in San Diego in April of 1991 to Carlos and Mary Jane Nunes. I
have one sibling, Janae, who is three years younger than me. I attended
pre-school at Murdoch elementary and attended elementary school at
Avocado elementary
in La Mesa, CA before heading to Hillsdale middle school and Valhalla high
in El Cajon, CA. At Valhalla my senior year football team advanced all the
way to the CIF championship at Qualcomm stadium. Since then I have attended
SDSU as a mechanical engineering major. As of May 19 I will have completed
an undergraduate degree in four years. Over the summer I have a gas
compressor internship at Solar Turbines that I hope to turn into a full
time job.
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*__________________________________*
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*THAT’S ALL FOLKS!!* *Please vote for one (1)!!***

** **

Thanx,****

** **

*Don't just have a good day but MAKE a GREAT day,*****

****

* ** ** -**Larry**-*****

***************************************************

*Lawrence C. Hinkle*****

*Assistant Dean for Student Affairs***

* *

*N**S**B**E **&** **AESC** **Advisor*****

*College of Engineering*****

*San Diego State University*****

*5500 Campanile Drive*****

*San Diego, CA 92182-1326*****

* *

*[image: cid:image001.jpg at 01C944C2.0FADEA90]***

*Voice: (619-594-5807) Fax: (619) 594-3138*****

*Email: **lhinkle at mail.sdsu.edu*

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