Engineering Excellence: Undergrads Recognized at Annual Celebration

Each year the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland celebrates exceptional undergraduate scholars through its Honors and Awards, which recognize students for their academics, leadership, and service.

Maryland Engineering honored 70 undergraduates who exemplify the college’s commitment to excellence at this year’s ceremony event, held May 10 in the Stamp Student Union. Five were recognized with Dean’s Awards.

"There are many reasons for our success. But one of the most important is the high-caliber students we honor tonight," said Clark School Dean Samuel Graham, Jr. "This community would not be what it is without the energy and dedication they bring to campus, the sense of teamwork and camaraderie they create, and the success they push us all to achieve."

Allison GriffithClark School Dean's Award: presented for excellence in academics, leadership, and service to the college.

Allison Griffith
Senior, mechanical engineering

Allison has served in several leadership positions on the Society of Women Engineers Executive Board and is a member of the College Park Scholars: Science, Technology, and Society Program, the Women In Engineering Student Advisory Board, and Alpha Omega Epsilon. An alum of Flexus, she currently works as a peer assistant in Engineering Career Services, interns for the Women in Engineering Program, and serves as a Clark School Ambassador. Following graduation, Allison will start her career as a mechanical engineer at L3Harris in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

Erika MaherClark School of Engineering Leadership Award: presented to a Clark School student who demonstrates outstanding leadership.

Erika Maher
Senior, aerospace engineering

Erika has served as the president of the Society of Women Engineers for the last two years and is a member of the Women in Engineering Student Advisory Board. She has mentored over 20 students through the Women in Engineering mentoring program and is a proud alum of Flexus, where she served on the programming board. Erika is an active member of Alpha Omega Epsilon sorority for women in STEM and serves as a Clark School Ambassador.

Annushka AlievA. James Clark School of Engineering International Leader Award: presented for leadership and service through international engineering activities.

Annushka Aliev
Junior, civil engineering

Annushka has maintained a 4.0 GPA while a member of the University Honors Program, the QUEST Honors Program, and the Engineering Honors Program. In addition to her coursework, Annushka is involved in environmental justice and infrastructure resilience research on campus. She is also heavily involved in Engineers Without Borders and is currently serving as the organization’s president. In addition, Annushka works as a teaching assistant for the Introduction to Design and Quality course in the QUEST Honors Program and teaches SAT preparatory math.

Ijeoma AsonyeKim A. Borsavage and Pamela J. Stone Student Award for Outstanding Service: presented for outstanding service and dedication to the Clark School.

Ijeoma Asonye
Junior, mechanical engineering

Ijeoma is a member of QUEST Honors Program and the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House while also minoring in creative writing. She has worked at the Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering as a project engineer and website editor. Ijeoma serves on the Women in Engineering Student Advisory Board and serves as president of Flower STEM, a club for blending creativity and STEM. She is a student entrepreneur, author, and filmmaker. Ijeoma is currently producing a short film based on “The Beautiful Math of Coral,” integrating the ideas of home, poetry, science, and art.

William CovingtonDinah Berman Memorial Award: presented to a third-year engineering student who has combined academic and scholastic excellence with demonstrated leadership or service to the Clark School.

William Covington
Junior, aerospace engineering

William has maintained a 4.0 GPA at UMD and is interning at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as a thermal engineer working on the Mars Sample Return mission. Will is one of the founders of the engineering team SatFab (Satellite Component Fabrication). He is also a teaching fellow for ENES100 and performs volunteer engineering work for UMD’s Space Systems Lab. This summer, Will will be interning at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California as a Mission Planning and Sequencing Intern for the Psyche mission.

Congratulations to all 70 of our 2023 honorees!

Yousefsaid Abderrahim
Ameenat Afolabi
Annushka Aliev
Ijeoma Asonye
Reese Barrett
Olivia Becker
Natalia Beltran
Leopold Bertholet
Kruti Rajnikant Bhingradiya
Jessica Boetticher
Amaya Caggino
Peter Capozzoli
Marco Casareto
Josef Chamera
Riordan Correll-Brown
Will Covington
Kyra Cromwell Reed
Ruth Efrem
Mikaila Esuke
Scott Fleischmann
Lauren Gabranski
Anjali Gajendiran
Rebecca Gibbons
Michael Gill
Allison Griffith
Harry Hall
Vikram Hanspal
Rubina Hasanat
Robert Henry
Marisol Hernandez
Lucy Hughes
Joshua Ikegwu
Agustin Jauregui
Michael Kalin
Siriwipa Kamma
Lucas Kaplan
Melina Khansari
Patrick Kim
Holly King
Gustavo Lang, Jr.
Matthew LiCausi
Diana Liepinya
ZiQi (Crystal) Lin
Wensen Liu
Craig Mackel
Erika Maher
Nathan Martin
David Okello
Mani Pabba
Isabella Penafiel
Giuse Pham
Miranda Pierce
Madison Radford
Audrey Rappaport
Joshua Rippeon
Benjamin Robinson
Madelyne Rossman
Derrick Sanders
Anish Sankla
Allen Schnaitmann
Aidan Stark
Elijah Taeckens
Stephanie Tsitsiwu
Nicolle Vigil Aguinada
Andrew Vogelpohl
Shaun Walters
Alex Wang
Lillian Williams
Jacob Witlin
Harry Zou

Published May 11, 2023