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Students Honored with Physics Club Awards
Several students were honored at the 2023 A-Section Physics Club Awards on March 16.
Dr. Ronald Kumon presented awards for Outstanding Physics Performance and Outstanding Service. The Physics and Astronomy Honor Society, Sigma Pi Sigma, also inducted new members during the event.

Sigma Pi Sigma has more than 580 chapters nationwide with more than 100,000 lifetime members. The 2023 A-Section new members are:
- Claire Gardner ('23, EP)
- Taylor Godlewski ('23, ME)
- Ariana Hunt ('23, CHME)
The Outstanding Physics Performance Award is given to students with excellent performance in introductory physics courses and typically completed the sequence during the past academic year. The recipients were:
- Jasmine Adamson ('25, ME)
- Katerina Bastounis ('23, CHME)
- Maxwell Battist ('25, ME)
- Giovanni Cavataio ('25, CHME)
- Noah Cole ('24, ME)
- Adria Dixon ('25, EE)
- Grant Gergen ('25, Engineering)
- Gavin Krebs ('25, ME)
- Phu Nguyen ('25, ME)
- Michael Roycht ('25, ME)
- Zachary Schmatz ('24, ME)
- Kristen Smith ('25, ME)
- Brady Tackabury ('24, EE)
- Jack Taylor ('25, ME)
- Jacob VanOoteghem ('25, ME)
- Kyle Vogler ('26, CE)
Students who provide outstanding service to the physics program and University receive the Outstanding Service Award. Some recipients were recognized for their service as supplemental instruction (SI) leaders for Introductory Physics and others were recognized for their service as executive board members of the Physics Club. The recipients were:
- SI: Nicholas Buchholz ('25, ME)
- Treasurer: Parker Cirino ('23, ME)
- Vice President: Marina Fietsam ('22, EP)
- President: Claire Gardner ('23, EP)
- Secretary: Sivanesan Kaniyur Muruganandam ('23, ME)
- SI: Skylar Rogers ('24, BIOCHM)
- SI: Bradley Thompson ('24, ME)

Eta Kappa Nu Initiates Three New Members
The Theta Epsilon chapter of Eta Kappa Nu, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Honors Society, initiated three new members from the Winter Term on March 22.
To qualify for membership, students must be in the top 25% of their junior class or top 33% of their senior class and exhibit positive character traits.
Congratulations to the following students:
- Jonathan Gooch ('24, EE)
- Thomas McCarty ('23, CE)
- Jared Robinson ('24, EE)

Three Students Receive Robot Keys
Congratulations to the following Robot Society Key recipients:
- Gold key: Skylar Rogers ('24, BIOCHM)
- Silver key: Xavier Omozokpia ('25, ME)
- Bronze key: Jeanna Laureta ('27, CE)
The Robot Society is the most prestigious honor society on campus, accepting only 1% of the student population.
The keys were designed to encourage freshman, sophomore and junior student involvement that typifies leadership that is creative, citizenship that demonstrates responsibility and service that transcends self. To be considered for a key, students submit applications. Key recipients are on track to join the Robot Society in their senior year.

Kristy Brinker Brouwer Presents at SWE Event
Mechanical Engineering Professor of Practice Kristy Brinker Brouwer joined Torine Creppy, President of Safe Kids Worldwide, to present how a Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) can be used to identify product risks specific to children at the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) WE Local Detroit 2023 Conference.
DFMEA is a methodical approach used to identify potential risks in a new product by evaluating the overall design and its components to determine failure modes and causes. However, it is typically focused on an adult.
The presentation, "Keeping Kids Safe Using a DFMEA," took a deep dive into what a child-focused DFMEA would look like in autonomous vehicles.
The conference was Feb. 17-18 in Detroit.