[Various MAE Students] Hello everyone. I'm Jonathan Bessette and I'm receiving the Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering, and I'm the recipient of the MAE,
and I am the recipient of the MAE...
[Ramzy Abu-Ramadan] So my name is Ramzy Abu-Ramadan and I am the recipient of the MAE Distinguished Leadership
Award. I realized I liked understanding how things worked physically. That's kind of what brought
me towards the mechanical engineering part of it. One of the most amazing features and parts
of UB is all the clubs that are around. So ever since my first day on campus I've been heavily
involved with clubs. The first club I joined was the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Club
on campus, but I also joined the International Council such as the Organization of Arab Students.
And really, they were just an opportunity for me to get involved with people that had like-minded
ideas and just have fun with them. I think one of the main things about being a leader is being a
role model and someone your peers and teammates can look up to. So I'm trying to make the most of
it even when things are looking down. And just really being there for them so they, you're not
someone, you're less of a manager and a boss and more of a peer, someone they can look up to and look for help.
I was the project leader for the solar splash project in the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers club; I was elected the President of ASME for my junior year. That's been one of
my most fulfilling experiences so far. Engineering council coordinator for the Student Association where I
am responsible for UB's 21 engineering clubs. I also organize UB engineering week.
It culminates with robot wars on Friday where clubs build 50-pound robots that destroy each
other. There's just so much opportunity and it helps you grow as an individual and as an
engineer, so whenever there's an opportunity presented to you, make the very most of it.
[Kate Hartsough] Hello, my name is Kate Hartsough and I am the recipient of the MAE Diversity and Inclusion Award. I think
that I really was not sure what I was getting myself into. Giving back and creating positive
spaces for other people is something that actually helped me, like, be more energized when I come to
school the next day. OSTEM was actually, finally, set up as a SA club under the UB engineering
umbrella for a while, which has been such a gift to work with Dr. Human in engineering. But we don't,
we don't have nearly as many people who are in the sciences and mathematics and just had those
sorts of things. So we really wanted to become an SA Club to get our name out there a lot more.
We could attract other students from other majors and really kind of bring this into its family that we've been creating.
I'm going back to school for a master's at UB after I graduate, but what I really want
is to be able to come back and, like, pass on my knowledge, get connected. That sort of connection with other people will only benefit you in the long run.
For anyone of any particular interest, any identity, background, whatever, there is a community at UB for you.
You are really just given a seat at the table and a chance to be yourself.
[Fatak Borhani] My name is Fatak Borhani and I am receiving the Young Professional Award this year. Engineering just presented itself
as the perfect coupling between the sciences and the arts. My undergrad mentor was certainly
an amazing resource for me, and Dr. Crassidis has been really supportive of the work that I've
been doing for the past three to four years. I also had the chance to, you know, be working with some of
the most brilliant people at NASA, and I not only learned a lot in terms of the technical aspects
of engineering, but I also learned a lot about the practice of engineering. Where I am right now is
completely different than where I thought I would be. I'm a lot more interested in autonomy and
robotics, and robotic exploration of the solar system. It's the future that I'm excited to be
working for. I am not directly going to grad school because I want to first, you know, explore the industry.
I accepted an offer just recently, in the last few weeks, with the Draper Lab, which is located in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. And majority of their work, they're pretty famous for the Apollo Guidance
computer, and so it was a great place for me to start off my my career. And I will be working
there as a navigation algorithm designer. Embracing change, while it's really important and necessary
to have goals into the future, I noticed it's also important to, you know, recognize the opportunities
that we haven't planned for and embrace them.
[Andrew Heagle] Hello, my name is Andrew Heagle and I am receiving the
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Humanitarian Award. Combining creativity with the applied math and
sciences was really something that drew me to the engineering field. To be able to, to work with all
the different engineering disciplines and kind of put together a plan and optimize this engineering
problem, and then also have feedback from people at NASA. They're critiquing your work as you're
going along and that experience was invaluable so far to my educational experience at UB. People
who really care and are doing great things for the community are putting in the time to, to put on
these great things. So that's really driven me to to want to get involved. I was fortunate enough
to spend a little over two years at the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse. I was afforded
opportunities to volunteer with different events that were going on throughout the year. It was easy
to step into a role where you were giving back and helping. The actual fiftieth anniversary date of
the moon landing, I was able to, you know, organize and host an event. These students competed against
each other to simulate a moon landing. So they use their drone to land a little module onto a
moon map, and then they use their Lego robot that they had programmed to navigate the moon map and
perform different tasks. Try to get involved, you never know how your actions might impact
someone. Any way you can get involved, I would just say yes to it and see where it takes you.
[Anton Buynovskiy] Hello everyone, my name is Anton Buynovskiy and I am this years recipient for the MAE Undergraduate
Researcher Award. Growing up I had a lot of conversations, especially with my grandma, about
the space race, but from the Soviet Union side, and that got me really interested. I've been involved
in two labs at the University at Buffalo. So, one being the University at Buffalo nanosatellite
lab with Dr. Cassidy, and the combustion and energy transport lab with Dr. DesJardin. So, when I first
joined the CET lab, I mentioned to the professor that I like to, I was interested in optics, and he
allowed me to go ahead research into buying a whole spectrometer and buying a whole set up, so
that we could set up an experiment. Sounds like a lot of stress for me at first, like trying to make sure
I'm getting the right equipment. And, what really stuck out to me was that a couple months later,
once we finally finalized everything and once the spectrometer came in, I started recording my data and
I got the same data points that were in another research paper. And I was the best feeling I've
ever had, that I was able to replicate data and it actually worked. Everything is real it's not
just on paper. I just knew that I really like to do research. I really like learning new things.
And a couple weeks ago, I've made a decision to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder to
pursue my PhD in aerospace engineering. 90% of everything you're gonna do is gonna fail, but
that 10% I think is what makes up for all of that suffering. You don't need to be the smartest person
in order to be, to do research; you just really need to have the motivation and the willingness
to learn. As long as you want to learn something, you're gonna spend your free time looking it up,
and you, you will be the most informed person in that room, even if you're not the smartest person.
And you will contribute to a lot of things.
[Jonathan Bessette] Hi. I'm Jonathan Bessette and I'm receiving the
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Chairs Award. Being able to invent things is what
got me into engineering. I think a lot of it really comes down to just being able to help people.
There was a time when I was in India and I was getting off the bus, and I just saw this level of, I guess,
polarity. You know, on one hand there were these really affluent hotels and buildings with, like,
marble staircases, and on the other hand, there were people who were in extreme poverty living in
the streets. And I thought, you know, people who have access to technology why, why can't it be used to
help people and to lift people out of poverty? Getting into engineer, I wanted, you know, I
was really interested in understanding how things work and, you know, trying to leverage that to
build new devices, to build affordable devices for people who really need it. Being able to see people
grow, and being able to act as a mentor to people as others have done for me, I think that's really fulfilling.
So after UB, I am going to be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
Boston, and I'm going to be pursuing a masters [inaudible] PhD, and I'm going to be
conducting research in the global engineering lab. Explore, take time to explore things that you're
passionate about. Those things, I think, will lead you to not only great impact, but also fulfillment.
[Francine Battaglia] Hello, my name is Francine Battaglia and I am the new MAE department chair.
Congratulations having earned recognition as MAE students of excellence.
You have shown that there is more to education
than simply taking classes. You have developed as engineers, researchers, leaders, humanitarians,
and have embraced diversity and inclusion. You embody the qualities that are the pillars of UB.
I look forward to seeing how you continue the legacy of other UB alum, and carry the UB name
proudly. Thank you for making MAE great, and I wish you well in your future endeavors.
[Kemper Lewis] Hey everyone. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate each of you on the significant awards that you've been
selected for. You are the best of the best. Wish we could celebrate with you in person, but we wanted
to honor you in this creative way. You've been part of, what in my opinion has been for the last number
of years, the best department on campus in mechanical and aerospace engineering, so thank you
for all you do. Thank you for your hard work. You guys are the best. So proud of you, congratulations.