Students and faculty from the CSULB Department of Mechanical Engineering received recognition at the 2016 Orange County Engineering Council Awards banquet last weekend.
Four CSULB students received Outstanding Engineering Student awards: Eric Barba and Farah Itani, both mechanical engineering seniors; Soorena Moogooie, a mechanical engineering junior and president of the CSULB Society for Petroleum Engineers chapter; and PhD candidate Darin Koblick.
Two students—Armando Fuentes and Koblick—also received the Outstanding Young Engineer Award.
The Mars Rover project took honors for the Outstanding Engineering Student Project Award. Students on the team include Andrew Blackney, Homam Chamas, Rahul Devikar, Javed Iqbal, Ganesh Kudleppanavar, and Jorge Vega.
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Assistant Professor Praveen Shankar received the 2016 Outstanding Engineering Educator Award. Shankar, whose research expertise is in development of advanced control systems for complex applications, is the team’s faculty advisor. He is the recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation’s Orville and Wilbur Wright Graduate Award for his contributions to research in aerospace engineering.
The awardees were recognized at the Orange County Engineering Council’s annual awards banquet on Saturday, February 27 in Anaheim. Chip Corso, Vice President of Engineering & Operations, Advanced Technology, at Irvine-based heart-valve company Edwards Lifesciences. The council’s mission is to enhance the public image of engineers and scientists and promote the interaction of professional societies and engineering/scientific corporations and universities in Orange County.