Outstanding Seniors (from left) Robinson, Bowie, Clark and Dyer.
Four University of Mississippi seniors have been named recipients of the 2014-2015 Outstanding Senior Leadership Award in the School of Engineering.
This year’s recipients are Samuel Bowie of Stafford, Texas, John Clark of Daphne, Alabama, Erin Dyer of Oxford, and Caleb Robinson of Canton. Each was selected through a nomination process in their respective departments based on their records of academic achievement, leadership, professional development and community service. Nominees also delivered a presentation to the selection committee about their undergraduate experiences while pursuing their engineering degrees.
“As in the past, this year’s competition has brought forward a group of outstanding seniors, who not only excelled academically but also demonstrated strong leadership qualities,” Dean Alex Cheng said. “We congratulate all the students who participated in the competition.”
Bowie, a double major in mechanical engineering and computer science, is the 2013 recipient of the John A. Fox Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Student Award. Listed on the Chancellor’s Honor Roll, he also received a Taylor Medal in 2014 as well as the Distinguished Senior Scholarship. He has earned membership in Phi Kappa Phi honor society, Tau Beta Phi engineering honor society and Upsilon Pi Upsilon computer science honor society.
During the summer of 2012, Bowie held a software engineering internship with Idera software company, working with a multidisciplinary team to solve issues with the internal software creation process. Additionally, he holds memberships in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery.
Bowie was also named the university’s student representative to the Mississippi Engineering Society‘s Outstanding Senior program. He will travel to Jackson to be recognized with the other MES Outstanding Seniors from across the state.
“I am surprised to receive this award with all the stellar engineers that are graduating this year,” Bowie said. “I appreciate both the mechanical engineering and computer science departments for making me the engineer I am today. I would also like to thank the Mississippi Engineering Society for pushing engineering students to strive for excellence. I hope to represent the Ole Miss engineering school well.”
Bowie is considering graduate school admission offers from Georgia Tech, MIT and Stanford.
Clark, a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, is also pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in manufacturing through the Center for Manufacturing Excellence. He has earned membership in Tau Beta Pi and Phi Kappa Phi, as well as a Taylor Medal. He also served as treasurer of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and volunteered with the Big Event. Clark has also held internships with Airbus Americas Engineering in Mobile, Alabama, and BBB Industries in Reynosa, Mexico.
Fluent in Spanish, he was able to conduct presentations and participate in meetings in Spanish while at BBB. Through his participation in the Summer Manufacturing Outreach Program, he designed modifications at Viking Range that resulted in a 40 percent improvement in their machine cycle time. Clark is seeking employment in the automotive or aerospace industry.
Dyer, a double major in chemical engineering and Chinese, is a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and the Chinese Language Flagship Program. She holds memberships in Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi and was the recipient of a Taylor Medal. She also holds a Barksdale Honors Scholarship from the Honors College. She has studied abroad in China during the summers of 2011, 2012 and 2014 and served as a research assistant at Shanghai University’s School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering. On campus, she has served as president of the Chinese Flagship Ambassadors, represented the School of Engineering at various recruiting events and is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and the Ole Miss Club Tennis Team.
Dyer has also participated in the Honors College’s sophomore service trip in 2012 and was selected as the UM representative to the 2014 Language Flagship National Student Meeting. She is deciding between pursuing a career in engineering and seeking admission to medical school.
Robinson is pursuing a degree in computer science and is a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. He received the Outstanding Computer Science Student Award during his freshman year and has served as president of the student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, as well as vice president of Upsilon Pi Upsilon. Robinson has competed in regional programming competitions through ACM since 2011 and has presented undergraduate research at the 2014 ACM Southeastern regional conference. He also holds membership in Phi Kappa Phi honor society. Robinson has also completed software development internships with C Spire in Jackson and FNC Inc. in Oxford. Additionally, he has two publications to his credit with a former computer science faculty member dealing with his interest in facial recognition.
Robinson plans to marry his fiancé this summer. He is considering offers of admission from Georgia Tech, University of Virginia and University of Florida, where he would pursue a Ph.D. in computer science.