Seven Seniors Get Inaugural Hall of Fame Recognition

The University of Mississippi School of Engineering has inducted seven seniors into its new Student Hall of Fame.

The honor was established to recognize students who have shown dedication to the School of Engineering, the university and the profession of engineering as a whole. A committee of engineering faculty, staff and students selected the first group of honorees, whose names were made public during the annual Engineering Honors Banquet in April.

The inaugural School of Engineering Student Hall of Fame members are: Erin Dyer and Abdul Hamid, both of Oxford; Jeremy Roy of Abbeville; Corey Schaal of Paris, Tennessee; Colin Wattigney of Waggaman, Louisiana; Charles Rainey of Jackson; and Haley Sims of Ridgeland. Each inductee reflected on their experiences.

“I am grateful for the education and opportunities provided by the School of Engineering at Ole Miss.” Wattigney said. “The experience has been better than I could have imagined. I have always strived to give back to the School of Engineering by serving it to the best of my abilities and will continue to do so as an alumnus.”

Schaal said he has had an excellent undergraduate experience in the school.

“I believe the greatest strength of the program is the outstanding instructors that are willing to take a special interest in the students’ success and studies,” he said. “Their help and guidance have significantly shaped my academic and career goals.”

Dyer, a member of the Chinese Language Flagship Program, and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, is studying chemical engineering. A Barksdale Scholar, she also earned a Marcus E. Taylor Medal and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society.

She has combined her education in Chinese and engineering to serve as a research assistant at Shanghai University’s School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering in addition to serving as student representative to the Language Flagship National Meeting in 2014. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and the Ole Miss Club Tennis team and participated in the Honors College’s sophomore service trip. Dyer is applying to medical school in the next year.

A member of the Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence, Hamid is studying mechanical engineering with an emphasis in

manufacturing. He is an Honors College student and received the John A. Fox Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Student Award for 2014. He is also received a Taylor Medal and has earned membership in Phi Kappa Phi, Order of Omega and Omicron Delta Kappa.

He serves on the CME Student Advisory Board, the Big Event Executive Committee and has served as an Ole Miss Ambassador. Hamid is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, where he has served as president. He also was selected to Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges this year. With two internships at General Electric Aviation in Batesville and Ellisville to his credit, Hamid is interviewing for full-time positions with a variety of companies.

Rainey is a chemical engineering major with minors in business and accountancy. He has been named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, Order of Omega and Mortar Board, and served as secretary of Omicron Delta Kappa. He has also served as an Associated Student Body senator and on the Executive Committee for the Big Event and was a winner in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Accountancy Case Competition.

Rainey has held a number of leadership roles within the engineering school, including vice president of the Engineering Student Body, vice president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and School of Engineering Ambassador. He is pursuing opportunities for full time employment.

A mechanical engineering major, Roy is a member of the Honors College and the CME. He has held a co-op with Caterpillar in Oxford and an internship with Hol-Mac Corp. in Bay Springs. A member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, he has served as co-chair of the CME Advisory Board and as a CME ambassador.

Roy has also served on the executive council of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, and participated in its 2015 Journey of Hope cycling project. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Order of Omega, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Gamma Beta Phi and the Chancellor’s Leadership Class. He has volunteered with the Lafayette County Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter and as an emergency medical responder. His honors thesis will involve exploring firefighter accountability systems. Roy has accepted a full-time position as a reliability engineer with ExxonMobil in Beaumont, Texas.

Schaal, a geological engineering major, is the recipient of the Outstanding Freshman and Junior Awards from the geological engineering department. A member of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, he has interned with Geotechnology Inc. during the summers of 2013 and 2014. He received national scholarships from the Underground Construction Association and the Women’s Auxillary to the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers.

Schaal has been recognized with membership in Order of Omega, Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi and Alpha Lambda Delta. He is also the recipient of a Distinguished Senior Scholarship and was a finalist for the School of Engineering’s Outstanding Senior Award. He has been an active member of Beta Upsilon Chi fraternity, serving as social chair and pledge trainer. Schaal will enroll in graduate school at Virginia Tech and continue to pursue a career as a professional engineer and professional geologist.

A civil engineering major, Sims is a graduate of Holmes Community College. She served as president of Chi Epsilon civil engineering society, vice president of the Phi Theta Kappa alumni organization, treasurer of Tau Beta Pi engineering society and secretary of Engineers Without Borders. She also traveled to Togo, Africa, with EWB in 2014 to aid in the construction of a school building.

A Taylor Medalist, she was the recipient of the Outstanding Junior Award for the Department of Civil Engineering and was named to Phi Kappa Phi honor society. Sims was also instrumental in the coordination of the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South conference that was held on campus in March.

“I will be working, conducting research in the Geotechnical Engineering and Geoscience Branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering Research and Development Center,” Sims said. “While at ERDC, I will be actively seeking graduate and doctoral degree programs in the field of Environmental Engineering at various schools across the United States.”

A member of both the Honors College and the CME, Wattigney is a mechanical engineering major. He has served as president of Tau Beta Pi and as chairman of the CME Student Advisory Board. He has been recognized with membership in Alpha Lambda Delta and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Wattigney has also held a number of internships, including work with Accenture in Southfield, Michigan, Borg-Warner in Water Valley and General Electric Aviation in Batesville. He has also assisted in a number of recruitment efforts on behalf of the School of Engineering. He will remain at Ole Miss to pursue a Master of Business Administration beginning in August.