Engineering Hits it Out of the Park with Awards
Many of our engineering students have won numerous awards the past two years that we rarely hear about. But if it were the Olympics of engineering, Georgia Southern would have stood on every podium with a gold or silver medal around their neck.
When some of them opened the mail and got a letter that said, “On behalf of the Council on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) and the Engineering Division, I am pleased to announce that you have been selected as a winner …,” several students got the shock of their lives.
Tim Sutton, Luke Kroeger, Mitchell Strickland and Nick Dillon ran away with first place awards at the NCUR 2024 and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Internal Combustion Engine Forward (ICEF) Conference.
These four students are mentored under the direction of Valentin Soloiu, Ph.D., the Allen E. Paulson Distinguished Chair of Renewable Energy and a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing (AEPCEC).
“We win so many awards against larger, better known engineering schools because we offer more hands-on undergraduate research,” said Soloiu. “And our students start internships and co-ops at a much earlier stage in their education at Georgia Southern.”
Kroeger’s winning effort was on “Determining Aircraft Final Approach Altitude Using a Machine Learning-Based Sensor Fusion System.” He is majoring in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering and planning on graduating in 2026.
Sutton’s project was “Analyzing the Performance of 3D LiDAR and Camera-based Object Detection Systems and their Fusion using AI for Autonomous Systems.” Sutton is a 2024 graduate and is now working in Germany on an internship with plans to begin graduate school at Georgia Southern when his internship concludes.
Strickland went over the top with “A Tribological Characterization of a 50-50 Blend of JET-A and Hydro Processed Hydrocarbons, Ethers, and Fatty Acids (HEFA) Sustainable Aviation Fuel”. He is interning at a major aerospace company in Savannah and plans on graduating in 2027 in mechanical engineering.
When asked what advice made them successful in these competitions they all had their own suggestions.
“Just apply for more things such as this, because I really wasn’t expecting much out of it,” said Stricklend. “I wasn’t really expecting to win anything. So I would say just reach out to more things like this and put yourself out there.”
Sutton is going farther than the moon. “My advice is to shoot for the stars and reach for your dreams.”
“Just take advantage of the opportunities Georgia Southern has with its research labs and its clubs and stuff,” said Kroeger. “Get involved and be sure and open your mail.”
Nick Dillon is a Warner Robins, Georgia, native who is anything but average. He was on vacation when he opened his letter.
“I was blown away by that letter,” said Dillon. “I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
Dillon graduated magna cum laude from Georgia Southern University’s Honors College in May as a Goel Scholar with a degree in mechanical engineering. He won one of two prestigious ASME ICEF undergraduate research awards out of entries nationwide.
Dillon’s research paper, “Investigations of Low-Reactivity X-98 Ethanol inReactivity Controlled Compression Ignition with High-Reactivity Jet-A for Performance and Emissions Improvement,” was presented at the conference.
“Georgia Southern is a very special place because you get to do undergraduate research that shows commitment and actual results” said Dillon. “I think that is a tangible way to prove that I am actually in research and doing things and producing things instead of just being in the lab. ”
If those awards aren’t enough for you, there are more potential winners working on projects for next year.
“Keep on the lookout for more awards from our students at Georgia Southern,” said Soloiu. Our students are working hard and they are all going for the gold.”