[Faculty] RESULTS: VALEDICTORIAN - FACULTY VOTE & COMMENCEMENT INFO

Wed Apr 23 11:30:30 PDT 2014

Thank you to all the faculty who voted!

This year's COE Valedictorian is Henok Tadesse, from the ECE Department.

COE Commencement will take place on Saturday, May 17th at 5pm.  Graduating
students should begin arriving by 415; the procession into Viejas arena will
begin promptly at 4:45pm.  Rehearsal will be on Thursday, May 15th at 2:30pm
in Viejas arena.  I recommend that graduate students, especially any Ph.D.s,
department chairs, outstanding student for each department, deans and
participating faculty attend rehearsal.  If we are expecting any Ph.D.
graduates, let me know ASAP for inclusion in commencement script.  In
addition, if the commencement speaker is available, I recommend he attend
rehearsal as well.  This year's commencement speaker is Mr. Douglas E.
Barnhart, Chairman, Barnhart Family of Companies.

Please let me know if you are planning to attend and participate in
commencement.

Thank you,

Theresa M. Garcia

Interim Assistant Dean

SDSU College of Engineering

From: Theresa Garcia [mailto:tgarcia at mail.sdsu.edu] 
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 9:12 AM
To: faculty at kahuna.sdsu.edu
Cc: Monte Mehrabadi (mehrabadi at sdsu.edu); 'Nagy Nosseir'; 'Ken Walsh'; K
Morsi (kmorsi at mail.sdsu.edu); tummala at egr.sdsu.edu; Donovan Geiger
(dgeiger at mail.sdsu.edu); bwesterm at mail.sdsu.edu
Subject: VALEDICTORIAN - FACULTY VOTE

Greetings College of Engineering Faculty,

The end of spring 2014 is near and we are getting closer to commencement.
It is time again for the faculty members to vote on the COE valedictorian.
The valedictorian is selected from one of the four department level
outstanding students.  Below you will find the four outstanding students
selected  by each department (1 per dept.) with a short bio provided either
by the student or by the department.  Please submit your 'single' vote to me
by replying to this email.  Your deadline to vote is 4pm on Tuesday, April
22, 2014.  I realize there are numerous activities going on in COE at this
time.  

Your timely vote is important!

Theresa M. Garcia

Interim Assistant Dean

SDSU College of Engineering

________________________________

 AE CANDIDATE

Candidate: Jeromey Suko

GPA: Major - 3.74; Cum - 3.63

Remarks:

.         In 2005 I enlisted in the United States Navy as an Avionics
Technician.

o   Deployed to the Middle East aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln with
Helicopter Combat Search and Rescue Squadron 12 in support of both Operation
Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

o   Received a Commanding Officer Commendation Letter in2008, honorable
discharge in 2009 as well as the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for
outstanding service. 

.         Internships at General Atomic Electromagnetic Division in 2010,
Pratt and Whitney Power systems in 2011, and United Launch Alliance in 2012
& 2013.

.         President of Sigma Gamma Tau in 2011. During his tenure, the
society volunteered to paint the AE Department floor and Jeromey led a major
effort to recruit 15 new Aerospace Engineering Honors students into the
society.

.         Manufacturing Leader of the AIAA Design Build Fly Team (2011) and
Project Manager of the DBF team in 2012-2013. The team came in 2nd place
among 80 teams in the 2013 AIAA International Competition.  As a team
manager, Jeromey oversaw numerous upgrades to the Aerospace Lab where the
team does its building including the installation of the school's new
$10,000 dollar CNC Foam hot wire 

o   In fall of 2013, Jeremey continued his involvement with the DBF team as
Assistant Project Manager in an effort to mentor a new group of students. He
also continued his involvement with the S-STEM program in developing a
simulation tool to rapidly validate preliminary aircraft design.

o   Awarded the Associated Engineering Student Council AE Student of the
Year Award as well as the Outstanding Contribution Award for the SDSU local
chapter of the AIAA during the 2012-2013.

.         Accepted a job offer with United Launch Alliance as a Guidance
Navigation and Control Engineer where he will start shortly after
graduation.

__________________________________

CCE CANDIDATE

Candidate: Alec Rivera

GPA: Major - 3.97; Cum - 3.93

Remarks:

In fall of 2012 I transferred to San Diego State University from Palomar
College with a GPA of 3.92. Since transferring, I have achieved a GPA of
3.96, have been involved in ASCE, and have had three internships. I began
interning with Flatiron Construction, a heavy civil contractor, in 2009
after winning their "Build-A-Bridge Competition." I stayed with Flatiron
Construction until the summer of 2013 when I decided to try a design
internship with Dokken Engineering, a transportation design consultant. I am
now interning with Quality Infrastructure Corporation, another
transportation design consultant, and plan to continue with them full-time
upon graduation.

__________________________________

ECE CANDIDATE

Candidate: Henok Tadesse

GPA: Major - 3.99; Cum - 3.99

Remarks:

He stood first in every class he has taken in the ECE department.   Henok
showed immense maturity in assignments and demonstrates outstanding
capability in his thinking, analysis and execution skills.  Henok would
often come to my office to discuss the subject area of Computer Networks and
his career goals. Those conversations brought out crucial aspects of Henok's
abilities. I was impressed with his ability to get into the groove of
technical details to the extent that he did. Moreover, I believe, he has the
tenacity and the eye for detail that is extremely crucial in achieving
success as a researcher, obviously, along with technical clarity. In terms
of his performance in class, Henok showed sincere dedication and tremendous
hard work and achieved more than I thought he would be able to. The kind of
questions that he used to ask in the classroom during my lectures told me
that Henok had the ability to get to the heart of the matter very quickly. I
was also impressed at how fast he would grasp (and not just absorb) a new
idea/concept/algorithm. Henok is a smart individual and as per my
interaction with him, I think he is very well suited and prepared to
undertake the rigorous challenge of the graduate program at any institution.

Henok is an immigrant from Ethiopia and needed some adjustment to the
American style of teaching.  He also has to support himself by working while
taking classes.  In spite of this, he has achieved the highest GPA (3.99)
in our department . Most of us know how difficult it is for any student to
accomplish this. For these reasons, not only do I recommend him for an
outstanding student from the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering but also recommend him as an outstanding student from the
College of Engineering.

__________________________________

ME CANDIDATE

Candidate: Sumedha Weerasuriya

GPA: Major - 3.98; Cum - 3.85

Remarks:

Sumedha Weerasuriya, a mechanical engineering major from Sri Lanka, has
viewed his time at San Diego State University (SDSU), as the ideal
opportunity, to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of the
surrounding world. "It is all about perspective", says Weerasuriya, "If one
goes to class and views the material being taught as the;  knowledge
gathered and preserved by the brilliant minds of the past generations, then,
it is almost impossible to not want to try and fully understand it". 

In his years at SDSU, Weerasuriya has received Dean's list semester honors
for every semester, been elected for membership in all multi-disciplinary
honor societies ( Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Beta Kappa, Golden Key
and Mortar Board) as well as the engineering specific honor society of Tau
Beta Pi, and has been the recipient of the Shiley Bioengineering
scholarship. However, perhaps his two most notable achievements are, being
the 2nd engineering student in the history of SDSU, to receive the Henry L.
Janssen, honors council award, and being awarded a presidential award for
his research in the Advanced Materials Processing Laboratory (AMPLE) at
SDSU. He also holds a patent as one of the inventors of the technology
developed through this research. 

In the spring of 2014, Weerasuriya will be recognized as an outstanding
student by the college of engineering and will receive Summa Cum Laude
honors upon graduation.

__________________________________

Please vote for one (1) BY 4PM ON APRIL 22, 2014!!

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