Originally from Tennessee, Salutatorian Gavin Kress (’20 BME) transferred to USC after starting school at University of California, Santa Barbara and has a passion for medical research. Photo/Gus Ruelas
In a time of adversity and uncertainty, USC Viterbi students have continued to demonstrate incredible resiliency and excellence, not only in their studies and scholarly achievements, but also in their contributions to their USC community and our world.
Dean Yannis C. Yortsos summed up the sentiment that the Class of 2020 leaves USC with: “I have been awed by your growth, by your ingenuity, by your development – professional, personal and societal,” he wrote. “You mastered competence. And you mastered character. And in the process, you earned our and society’s unconditional trust.”
On May 13, these graduating seniors were recognized for outstanding academic, leadership, and service achievements at the 2020 USC Viterbi Undergraduate Student Awards.
University-Wide Awards
Renaissance Prize Winner 2020 |
Sina Karachiani Catherine Elizabeth Knox Ryan Rene Moreno |
University Trustees Award |
Nihar Goel Agrawal Neelesh Bagrodia Jingyun Yang |
USC Provost’s Award |
Zhonghao Shi |
Discovery Scholar Prize Winner |
Hannah Elizabeth Walker |
Salutatorian |
Gavin Thomas Kress |
National Science Foundation – Graduate Research Fellowships Program |
Arynn Orlanes Gallegos |
Fulbright Scholar |
Catherine Elizabeth Knox (Netherlands) |
National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenge Scholars |
Ara Mahseredjian Arynn Gallegos Catherine Knox Celeste Goodwin Devlin Halpin Gavin Kress Jamie Schlacter Janeline Wong John Cagney Julia Sircar Kayley Cheng Lucas Hu Madelyn Douglas Megan Schoen Meredith Troy Michael Tawata Namita Prakash Nathan Alvarez Neelesh Bagrodia Olufikunayo Famutimi Roxanna Pakkar Scott Kriesberg Siena Applebaum Sofia Tavella Soraya Levy Zhelan Chen |
USC Viterbi-Wide Awards
Research Award
| Viterbi Award for Outstanding Research | Roxanna Pakkar |
Roxanna Pakkar (center), winner of the USC Viterbi Research Award and members of Team Marlink developing underwater wireless communication technology. Photo/Tracy + David Still and Motion
Community Awards
| Center for Engineering Diversity Award | Rajuan Nelson |
| Viterbi Award for Women in Engineering | Catherine Knox |
| Viterbi Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Transfer Student | Gavin Kress |
| Gary Norris Award | Shane Byrne-Slepicka |
Service Awards
| Viterbi Community Impact Award | Beatriz Sousa |
| Neighborhood Service Award | Jamie Schlacter |
Leadership Awards
| Viterbi Award for Outstanding Achievement in Leadership | Arynn O. Gallegos |
| Albert Dorman Future Leader Award | Siena Applebaum |
| Viterbi Student Ambassador of the Year | Camila Salomon Gnecco |
| Viterbi Award for Outstanding Student Organization | Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering (ASBME) |
| Viterbi Award for Best Design Team | VEX Robotics |
| Albert Dorman Scholar Award | Neelesh Bagrodia |
| Albert Dorman Grand Challenge Scholar Award | Celeste Goodwin |
| Exemplary Grand Challenge Scholar Award | Neelesh Bagrodia Soraya Levy Meredith Troy |
Best Research Paper
| First Place: “Automated Poetry Generation” | Ryan Moreno |
| Second Place: “IQ without EQ: The Insoluble Problem for Engineers” | Mackenzie McClung |
| Third Place: “The Dawn of ‘Digital Disaster’: Brain-Computer Interfaces and Natural Disaster Planning” | Madelyn Douglas |
Best Analytical/Expository Essay
| First Place: “Canal at a Cost: The Ethics behind the Construction of the Panama Canal” |
Ana Rescala |
| Second Place: “The Engineer’s Blindspot: Amplified Algorithms” | Mackenzie McClung |
| Third Place: “Ethics of Deep Brain Stimulation” | Ryan Moreno |
Departmental Awards
USC Viterbi Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
| Eyre Associates Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering | Jinkun Liu Andrew Newsome |
| The Tony Maxworthy Award | Jialing Tong Xuehuo Zhang Jinkun Liu |
| John Laufer Memorial Prize for Outstanding Achievement | Ara Mahseredjian Brady Donahue Zachary Begland Tristan Caparas |
| The Bleeker Award for Superb Craftsmanship | Zongyang Xiang Brandon Vo John Dervartanian Zhenjun Yan |
| Student Achievement Award for Outstanding Ingenuity and Performance | Sophia Fast Andrew Rooney Clayton Marceau David Kim Noah K. Brown Timothy Bean Andrew Combs Alexandra Bruce A. James Armstrong Noah Brown Samuel Monroe Lucas McLeland |
USC Viterbi Department of Astronautical Engineering
| Ad Astra Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement | Luke St Regis |
| Astronautics Faculty Award for Student Achievement | Nick Borquez |
USC Viterbi Department of Biomedical Engineering
| Fred S. Grodins Award for Academic Excellence | Neelesh Bagrodia |
| AMI Award for Academic Excellence in Biomedical Engineering | Ahmed Mohamed |
| AMI Award for Outstanding Research in Biomedical Engineering | Johan Joo |
| AMI Award for Design Innovation in Biomedical Engineering | Julia Morelli Jamie Schlacter Megan Schoen Abigail Stepnitz Meredith Troy |
| AMI Award for Leadership in Biomedical Engineering | Kristie Leung |
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science
| Lyman L. Handy Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Petroleum Engineering | Mohammed Idriss |
| Charles J. Rebert Chemical Engineering Outstanding Student Award | Brandon Chew Asang Mehta |
| Ronald G. Minet Award for Best Design Project | Samantha Abdel-Latif Brandon Chew Dolsook Daruganon Sabrina Falcon Mari Rustebakke Nicole Spence |
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
| David M. Wilson Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Civil Engineering | Davis Clement |
| David M. Wilson Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Environmental Engineering | Catherine Knox |
USC Viterbi Department of Computer Science
| Award for Outstanding Research | Zhonghao Shi |
| Outstanding Student Award | Oliver Samuel Eisenberg Joseph Michael Blundell Yun Tian Xu Sichong Zhao Anant Jain Nihar Goel Agrawal Zhonghao Shi Jingyun Yang Zhaoqi Zhu Ryan Rene Moreno Olivia Lu Hong Jamin Gao Chen Alina Fatima Abidi Rachit Kataria Yue Cao Muyao Xu Yue Zhu |
| Outstanding Service Award | Ana Lucia Rescala Boyuan Xu |
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering
| Philip S. Biegler Memorial Award For Outstanding Achievement | Nicholas Mehlman |
| Ming Hsieh Institute Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award | Roxanna Pakkar |
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
| Student of the Year | Soraya Levy |
| Outstanding Achievement in Leadership | Joseph Lappin |
| Capstone Design Award | Kailey Breyer Nick Huber Austin Reinhold Tyler Vincent |
Published on May 27th, 2020
Last updated on January 7th, 2021
