ME Senior Wins Prestigious Research Awards

Mechanical engineering student, Tenaya Prince, has recently been named the Region 2 First Place Winner of the Undergraduate Students in Technical Research Regional Showcase (URRS) award and the Second Place Winner of the Focus Research on Entrepreneurial Empowerment (FREE) award. Prince did extensive research on embedded resistors and has won these honors based on her paper, “Trimming of Embedded Resistors: 3 D Electrical Modeling.”

As first place winner of the URRS award, Prince presented her research at the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) national convention in. Of the six national regions, Prince is the winner for Region 2, which is comprised of over 2,400 collegiate student members. These members represent chapters throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

On winning the award, Prince is ecstatic, recalling, "I was in complete shock when I was announced as the first place winner. I am very grateful to receive such a high honor bestowed by my peers." Sponsored by NSBE, this first place tribute consists of a trophy and a $200 monetary award.

As a result of expanding her research to include its entrepreneurial potential, Prince is also honored with the FREE award, sponsored by the University of Maryland Black Graduate Student Association (NBGSA) and the Black Engineers Society (BES). As a second place winner, Prince has received a certificate of participation and a $200 monetary award.

"To win a research award over other participating graduate students made me feel really accomplished," says Prince, "This research competition gave me confidence that I could pursue a graduate degree and be successful in graduate school."

Currently, Prince is the PCI Co-Chair for the National Society of Black Engineers and is involved with many volunteer activities including Operation Caring Spirits--an Air Force volunteer program, Christmas in April, and Walk for Education. She has won other awards including several academic awards and the Michael L. Cherry Scholarship award, “for community service and being an inspiration to others.” As a mechanical engineering senior, she is looking forward to her upcoming graduation in Fall 2009. Post graduation, she plans to pursue a career with General Electric Transportation in their Edison Engineering Development Program, after which she plans to enroll in graduate school.

For more information on the University of Maryland’s chapter of NSBE, please visit http://www.bes.umd.edu.

--Lauren Frye '10, Mechanical Engineering Student Reporter

Published March 26, 2009