The 2021 Undergraduate Student Awards

| May 19, 2021 

The impressive accomplishments and resilient spirit of the class of 2021 was recognized and commemorated in this year’s online undergraduate awards ceremony.

Zane Durante, Dominie Miyasato, Jacob Toney. Photos from 2021 Undergraduate Student Awards ceremony.

Zane Durante, Dominie Miyasato, Jacob Toney. Photos from 2021 Undergraduate Student Awards ceremony.

On Wednesday, May 12, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering celebrated the achievements of its Class of 2021 students at the annual USC Viterbi Undergraduate Awards.

Over 240 attendees — including students, their families and friends and Viterbi faculty — gathered for the online ceremony. Students were recognized for their impressive academic accomplishments, their commitment to positively impacting the surrounding community through service and outreach and their excellence in leadership.

USC Viterbi Dean Yannis C. Yortsos shared his pride over the grit and resilience exemplified by the Class of 2021, even in the midst of a deadly global pandemic.

“I am very pleased to say that the graduating Viterbi class of 2021 is spectacularly equipped not only to deal with today’s unprecedented disruption,” Yortsos said, “but more importantly, to inspire, innovate and lead in the universe unfolding in front of us; to engineer a better world for all humanity, a goal more urgently needed than ever before.” 

University-Wide Awards

Renaissance Scholar Prize 
Yinghui (Linda) He
Sheetal Madnani

University Trustees Award
Jacob Toney

USC Provost’s Award
Philip Jung
Zhengyu Yang

Discovery Scholar Prize 
Zane Durante

Emma Josephine Bradley Bovard Award
Katrina Chandra
Lindsey Marks

Schwarzman Scholars Program
Benjamin Jia-An Ma

Goldwater Scholarship
Zane Durante

Astronaut Scholarship
Zane Durante

Salutatorian
Ashwin Bhumbla

National Science Foundation – Graduate Research Fellowships Program
Diana LaFollette

USC Viterbi-Wide Awards

RESEARCH AWARDS

Viterbi Award for Outstanding Research
Zane Durante

COMMUNITY AWARDS

Center for Engineering Diversity Award
Helen Salinas

Viterbi Award for Women in Engineering
Stephanie Thrift

Viterbi Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Transfer Student
Carlos Acosta

Gary Norris Promise Award
Vihan Krishnan

SERVICE AWARDS

Viterbi Community Impact Award
Connor Powers
Spencer Powers

Neighborhood Service Award
Rhys Richmond

LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Viterbi Award for Outstanding Achievement in Leadership
Hannah Mulroe

Albert Dorman Valedictorian Scholar Award
Jacob Toney

Albert Dorman Future Leader Award
Dominie Miyasato

Albert Dorman Grand Challenge Scholar Award
Robert Sutherland

Viterbi Student Ambassador of the Year
Sheetal Madnani

Viterbi Award for Outstanding Student Organization
Society of Women Engineers

Viterbi Award for Best Design Team
AeroDesign Team of USC

BEST RESEARCH PAPER

First Place: “Bioinspired Catalysis of C-H Hydroxylation: A Computational Approach”
Jacob Toney

Second Place: “Converting Wasted Heat to Electrical Energy: The Emergence of Thermoelectrical Generators”
Jason Trang

Third Place: “FloraVision: Identifying Native California Plants through Machine Learning, A Commercialization Plan”
Roopal Kondepudi

BEST ANALYTICAL/EXPOSITORY ESSAY

First Place: “Engineering Ethics: Grand Challenges and Grander Responsibilities”
Jacob Toney

Second Place: “The Ethics of Implementing Renewable Technologies”
Jason Trang

Third Place: “Ethics of Commercial Genomic Sequencing and Analysis”
Gina Yang

Departmental Awards

USC Viterbi Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Eyre Associates Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Miles Kay
Arpad Kovesdy

The Tony Maxworthy Award for Analytical and Experimental Elegance
Brandon Chong
Daniel Wang
Aaron Ginoza
Kyle Chiu
Alexander Rulke

John Laufer Memorial Prize for Outstanding Achievement
Miles Kay
Miranda Costigan
Criss Edwards
Emma Roberson

The Bleeker Award for Superb Craftsmanship
Patrick Valadez
Steven Douglass

Student Achievement Award for Outstanding Ingenuity and Performance
Tyler Presser
Elliott Hoppe
William Alpert
Nicholas Ilibasic 
Arpad Kovesdy
Cameron Spence
Justin Mendelson
Samuel Noy
Hansung Kim
Patrice Nguyen
Lucy Pan
Sean Won

USC Viterbi Department of Astronautical Engineering

Ad Astra Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement
Samuel Noy

Astronautics Faculty Award for Student Achievement
Lauren Potterat

USC Viterbi Department of Biomedical Engineering

Fred S. Grodins Award for Academic Excellence
Kimberly Larson

AMI Award for Academic Excellence by a Junior in Biomedical Engineering
Arjun Aron

AMI Award for Outstanding Research in Biomedical Engineering
Chelsea Mariano

AMI Award for Design Innovation in Biomedical Engineering
Chris Martinez
Olivia Pereira
Michael Peterson
Alana Stein

AMI Award for Leadership in Biomedical Engineering
Dominie Miyasato
Andrew Yock

Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science

Lyman L. Handy Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Petroleum Engineering
Dylan Chennault

Charles J. Rebert Chemical Engineering Outstanding Student Award
Jacob Toney
Kruthi Annigeri

Ronald G. Minet Award for Best Design Project
Kruthi Annigeri
Diana LaFollette
Goldie Roth
Juliana Tichota

Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

David M. Wilson Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Civil Engineering
Douglas Graham Drennan
Matthew Hoge

David M. Wilson Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Environmental Engineering
Christina Najm

USC Viterbi Department of Computer Science

Computer Science Outstanding Student Award
Katrina Bianca Chandra
Philip Jung
Zhengyu Yang
Tong Zhi
Juliette Paule Magdeleine Chirol Hill
Ashwin Bhumbla
Shreya Parag Havaldar
Yinghui He
Mingze Yao
Jincheng Zhou

Computer Engineering/Computer Science Outstanding Student Award
Mingyu Cui
Yizhou Sheng

Computer Science (Games) Outstanding Student Award
Nianxu Wang

Computer Science/Business Outstanding Student Award
Vikash A Mody
Gabrielle Sinacola

Computer Science Outstanding Service Award
Radhika Agrawal
Shreya Parag Havaldar

Computer Science Award for Outstanding Research
Kartik Dhananjay Mahajan
Samuel Alexander Atcheson
Benjamin Jia-An Ma
Zane Durante

Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering

Philip S. Biegler Memorial Award For Outstanding Achievement
Yubin Lin

Ming Hsieh Institute Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award
Yubin Li

Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Student of the Year 
Allison Zubeck

Outstanding Achievement in Leadership
Hannah Mulroe

Capstone Design Award
Astha Aggarwal
Frederick Rio
Winter Valent
Ata Yavuzer
Allison Zubeck

 

Published on May 19th, 2021

Last updated on May 19th, 2021

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