Excellence Award Winners
Biomedical Engineering
Dylan Kennedy, North Kingstown, RI
Dylan is receiving bachelor’s degrees in biomedical engineering and Chinese through URI’s International Engineering Program. He was named to the Dean’s List throughout his four years at URI.
Dylan was a member of Tau Beta PI, Order of Omega Greek Honor Society and Phi Beta Kappa.
He was the recipient of the Jerry & Evelyn Rhoads Engineering Scholarship, the Thomas Wroe International Engineering Scholarship and the Hasbro International Engineering Scholarships.
Dylan worked as a teaching assistant in the Engineering Computing Center where he helped students solve challenging MATLAB problems and understand the intricacies of coding.
He worked as a research assistant for Dr. Kunal Mankodiya in his Wearable Biosensing Laboratory where he utilized SolidWorks and 3D printing to develop sensors for portable functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy systems. Dylan had an internship at CREmedical in Kingston, RI with Dr. Walter Besio, where he designed and implemented active electrode circuits.
Dylan plans to pursue his Master of Business Administration at URI.
Chemical Engineering
Mason Hyde, North Kingston, RI
Mason is receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He was named to the Dean’s List throughout his four years at URI and was a member of Tau Beta Pi.
Mason was the recipient of the Walter Schmidt Engineering Scholarship, the A. Ralph Thompson Chemical Engineering Scholarship, the Knickle Family Freshman Chemical Engineering Scholarship and the NEEPRI Scholarship.
Mason worked as a lead tutor at the Academic Enhancement Center where he tutored math, physics and chemistry. Mason had an internship at Nordson EFD in East Providence, RI where he worked on new formulations of paste as well as implementing new rheological tests. Mason was also a research assistant for Dr. Michael Greenfield where he conducted molecular simulations using software called LAMMPS to predict system behaviors. He also worked with Dr. Faramarz Joodaki on the use of biological binders in asphalt, investigating the possibilities of extracting energy from roadways in order to transport heat or generate electricity.
Mason plans to pursue his master’s degree in chemical engineering at URI.
Civil Engineering
Bradley Bzdyra, East Greenwich, RI
Bradley is receiving his bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering, with a minor in mathematics and environmental engineering. He was named to the Dean’s List throughout his four years at URI.
Bradley was the recipient of the Narragansett Improvement Company Engineering Scholarship and the John Slocum Engineering Scholarship.
Throughout college, Bradley worked for his family’s business as a crew member on flood elevations, boundary surveying and topographic surveys. Bradley worked with Dr. Joseph Goodwill where he researched the characterization differences between Ferric and Ferrate Resultant Particles and was published under his professor.
Bradley will pursue his graduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin.
Computer Engineering
Dan Forman, East Greenwich, RI
Dan is receiving his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. He was named to the Dean’s List throughout his four years at URI.
Dan was a member of Tau Beta Pi and the local URI chapter of IEEE.
Dan was the recipient of the Toray Plastics Engineering Scholarship and the transfer merit award.
Dan worked for Dr. Tao Wei on RFID identification and Drs.’ Sodhi and Sendag on object identification utilizing machine learning. He had an internship at General Dynamics Electric Boat in North Kingstown, RI.
Dan hopes to find a job as an engineer in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
Electrical Engineering
Elliott Koehn, North Kingstown RI
Elliott is receiving bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer engineering. He was named to the Dean’s List throughout his four years at URI.
Elliott was a member of Tau Beta Pi and the recipient of the Toray Plastics America Engineering Scholarship.
Elliott was a research assistant for Dr. Tao Wei in URI’s Next Generation Sensing Technology Lab where he worked on projects using Ka band FMCW Rada to make fine distance measurements. Elliott interned at Xetron (Northrop Grumman), working on FPGA accelerated designs and embedded systems. He had an internship at General Dynamics Electric Boat, where he worked with operations to determine and reduce delays. He developed databases for evaluating increases in efficiency across trades.
Elliott has accepted a job at John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
Industrial & Systems Engineering
Kelly Domogala, Southbury, CT
Kelly is receiving bachelor’s degrees in industrial & systems engineering and Spanish through URI’s International Engineering Program, with a minor in general business. She was named to the Dean’s List throughout her four years at URI.
Kelly was a member of Tau Beta Pi and received the Barry Gertz Engineering Scholarship, the A.R. Lusi Engineering Scholarship and the Shaw McBride Engineering Scholarship.
Kelly spent a year in Zaragoza, Spain studying abroad while interning at Epic Power, where she created process documentation in Spanish, designing and implementing production layouts for new facilities while improving processes to increase efficiency, speed, simplicity and cleanliness. She also interned at Tiffany & Co. in Cumberland, RI, where she designed and ran experiments which increased efficiency, developed new labeling systems, wrote standard operating procedures and worked on codes. Kelly had other internships throughout her five years at URI, such as working at Whirlpool Corporation in Findlay, OH and Microboard Processing, Inc. in Seymour, CT.
Kelly will pursue her graduate degree in systems engineering at URI.
Mechanical Engineering
Mark Keenan, Narragansett, RI
Mark is receiving bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and German through URI’s International Engineering Program. He was named to the Dean’s List throughout all four years at URI.
Mark a member of Tau Beta Pi and Theta Tau Engineering’s Professional Fraternity.
He was the recipient of the Thomas Kim Engineering Scholarship, Jerry & Evelyn Rhoads Engineering Scholarship, the James Lenehan Engineering Scholarship and the Demers Fellowship.
He worked as a tutor for the Academic Enhancement Center, where he assisted students in physics and math.
Mark had an internship at ZF, Friedrichshafen, Germany where he tested transmission systems in the field and lab, wrote MATLAB code to interpret diagnostic data for automatic transmission systems. He was a research assistant in the department of Fluid Mechanics in TU Darmstadt, Germany, working on wind tunnel calibration and conducting post processing of particle image velocimetry. Mark also interned at Viessmann Manufacturing in Warwick, RI, where he planned, filmed and edited videos explaining the installation of boilers and translating technical information from German to English.
Mark will pursue his master’s degree at URI in mechanical engineering, focusing on solid mechanics. He’ll conduct research in the Dynamic Photomechanics Laboratory.
Ocean Engineering
Sandra Deeb, Wakefield, RI
Sandra is receiving bachelor’s degrees in ocean engineering and French through URI’s International Engineering Program, with a minor in mathematics. She was named to the Dean’s List throughout all four years at URI.
Sandra was a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society, Omega Epsilon Ocean Engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi, the Society of Women Engineers and an IEP French Ambassador.
Sandra was the recipient of the Herman Sheets Ocean Engineering Scholarship, the Malcom & Nicole Spaulding Ocean Engineering Scholarship, the Robert Ayotte Scholarship and the Schneider Electric Engineering Scholarship.
Sandra had an internship at Navatek Ltd., where she programmed in C++ and static hull best proactive testing. She worked as a research assistant with Dr. Reza Hashemi on renewable energy, mapping velocity fields in the Cape Cod Canal using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). She also had an internship at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in acoustics.
Sandra will pursue her master’s degree in ocean engineering at URI, where she has been offered a teaching assistantship for the fall 2020.
Nelson White Award Winners
Nelson Church White received his engineering degree in 1925 from the University of Rhode Island, known at the time as Rhode Island State College. He was URI’s first chemical engineer. Mr. White started work at an electrochemical plant in Providence. His career path led him to Chicago, where he became an assistant manager with the International Minerals and Chemical Corporation. He moved through assignments in research, production, planning and administration, becoming the CEO in 1967 and later the chairman of the board of directors.
It is in Nelson White’s honor that this award is presented each year to one member of each academic program. One student is selected by each program’s faculty based on their outstanding academic merit and performance.
Biomedical Engineering – Ryleigh Alfonse, Acushnet, MA
Chemical Engineering – Grace Santilli, Cranston, RI
Civil Engineering – Heather Zenk, East Islip, NY
Computer Engineering – Timothy Boyd, Merrimac, MA
Electrical Engineering – Travis Frink, Charlestown, RI
Industrial & Systems Engineering – Robyn Johnson, Elsah, IL
Mechanical Engineering – Emma McCool-Guglielmo, Wakefield, RI
Ocean Engineering – Lindsay Pisapio, Holliston, MA
