2014 Issue

16 Congratulations to UEC’s 2014 Scholarship Winners! BYU Scholarship Awardee: Branden Hancock A s an undergraduate student, Braden has co- authored four journal articles and four con- ference papers in multi-objective optimization methods. With work experience in the Air Force Research Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University Human Language Technology Center, and Brigham Young University Design Exploration Research Group, Braden has had the opportunity to apply his research in multiple fields, including turbine engine airfoil design, natural language processing, and the design for products in the developing world. Following his gradua- tion in April 2015 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, Braden will enroll in a doctoral program to eventually become a professor with a research group of his own focused on engineering optimization. USU Scholarship Awardee: Ren Gibbons R en Gibbons attended Davis High School in Kaysville, UT, where he passed seven AP exams. Ren was involved with Science Olympiad, particu- larly the Bridge Building event, which he won at state four years in a row. These 35-cm long balsa wood bridges inspired Ren to pursue a degree in Structural Engineering. Ren is a junior at Utah State University, where he holds a Presidential Scholarship and an Under- graduate Research Fellowship. He maintains a 4.0 GPA and is completing minors in French and Mathematics. Yesterday, he was awarded title “Outstanding Junior” in the Civil Engineering department. Ren is the head researcher in a geotechnical project involving a new measurement methodology for fine soil size distri- bution using infrared LEDs. Ren has experience as a surveying lab instructor. He currently works as a Teaching Assistant for Strengths of Materials. Ren serves as an ambassador for the USU College of Engi- neering and secretary of the USU Engineers Without Borders chapter. In his spare time, you can find Ren mountain biking or rock climbing in Logan Canyon. This summer, Ren is heading to Cape Town, South Africa for an internship with the structural engineering firm Henry Fagan and Partners. UofU Scholarship Awardee: Minna Wang M inna Wang is a biomedical engineering student at the University of Utah minoring in computer science. She works at the American Lung Associa- tion and the Neural Information Lab at the U’s Brain Institute. In her spare time, she enjoys reading Malcolm Gladwell, hiking, and rock climbing. Gerald H. Piele Scholarship Awardee: Evan Chief C ongratulations to the Gerald H. Piele Scholarship recipient, Evan Chief. Evan is studying electronics engineering at Weber State University. In addition, he is working on a program that will assist high school students prepare for college through volun- teering, building resumes, and more. Evan was born and raised in Monument Valley, Utah, where he lived on the Navajo reservation for eighteen years.