Two graduating seniors in mechanical engineering are being honored by the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL).
Tiffany Bauman has received the 2020 Robert H. Parks Award for Excellence in Engineering Leadership, which comes with a $3,500 prize. The award is given to a senior who displays leadership “in and outside the classroom, and is recognized by faculty and peers as an exemplary leader.”
Also honored is Alejandro Toscano Rodriguez, who has received the 2020 RCEL Engineering Leadership Award and a $2,500 prize. The award is given to a senior “whose qualities of character, leadership and responsibility have been outstanding during their undergraduate years at Rice.”
Bauman joined the Rice chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers as a freshman, and as a junior served as its president. She served in various roles at Will Rice College.
Rodriguez is a founding member of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS Rice) OwlSat Project and has served as its systems engineer and integration lead.
In addition, RCEL has presented two juniors, Katie DeSpain in civil and environmental engineering, and Amy Huyen in computer science, with Catherine Bracken Internship Assistance Scholarships. DeSpain will have an internship with Consolidated Edison in Valhalla, N.Y., and Huyen will have one with Facebook in Seattle. Each will receive $500.