Lafayette Engineers Earn Prestigious Awards

Lafayette College has a long history of educating well-rounded students with a high capacity for success. In a testament to this legacy, several Lafayette College engineering students have recently earned prestigious awards, reflecting their academic excellence and achievement. What makes these accomplishments even more remarkable is that many of these award-winning students have pursued additional academic interests, including double majors and/or minors, alongside their rigorous engineering curriculum. This commitment to multidisciplinary education underscores their exceptional talent and embrace of the Lafayette experience that bridges the liberal arts and engineering. Lafayette’s versatile and highly skilled engineers continue to excel in a complex, interdisciplinary world.

Mariama Bah ‘24 Engineering Studies and International Affairs double major: Fulbright Study/Research Grant, Charles L. Best Memorial Prize, Boren Fellow 2023, Truman finalist 2023. At Lafayette Mariama was president of the Best Society. She has served on the board of the Lafayette chapter of Girl Up, an international organization that provides youth with the training, tools, and community to build their leadership skills and accelerate social change. She’s participated in campus-wide initiatives like Green Move Out and Pard Pantry and served as the equity and inclusion officer of Lafayette’s Student Government. She will be conducting Fulbright research in Brazil. She hopes to someday work for a community development-focused organization, focusing on issues like sustainability and land rights.

Evaline Bearce ‘24 Civil Engineering major and German minor: Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Carroll Phillips Bassett Prize, Rexroth Prize in German. At Lafayette Evaline was a member of ASCE and Alpha Gamma Delta. She will help teach English language in classrooms in Germany while serving as cultural ambassador for the U.S.

Johnathan Cresson ‘24 Mechanical Engineering and German double major: Fulbright Austria US Teaching Assistantship (USTA), Fulbright Germany English Teaching Assistant (ETA) selectee; Rexroth Prize in German-Outstanding Senior Award. At Lafayette Johnathan was co-president of both the German Club and Lafayette Student Alumni Council. He was also an active member of Aflicktion ultimate frisbee, the motorsports team, a Lafayette Extended Orientation leader (LEO), and a Global Ambassador for the study abroad office. Johnathan is looking forward to teaching English through the USTA program next year at two secondary schools. Ultimately, he hopes to work for a German-American engineering company.

Ariel Haber Fawcett ‘24 Mechanical Engineering and International Studies dual degree and minor in Spanish: George Wharton Pepper Prize nominee and winner of 2023 Spanish Literary Contest Short Story Category. At Lafayette Ariel was a Marquis Fellow for four years, and has been a CITLS Fellow, engineering peer mentor, Manufacturing and Design Lab Assistant, and Clare Boothe Luce Scholar. She has also been a member of the Middle Eastern Studies Association, Indigenous Rights Coalition, held a variety of different roles in Refugee Action over the years, and more.

Milka Ininahazwe ’24 Mechanical Engineering: Finalist for a McCall MacBain Scholarship for graduate study at McGill University. Through the Scholarship, Milka was awarded a Regional Award, available to the top 95 out of approximately 700 Canadian candidates for study at any Canadian public university, which she declined. She also earned the David Bishop Skillman 1913 Library Prize for 2024. She was SWE co-president at Lafayette. In addition, she and her teammate CeCe Kwenah ‘24 (international affairs), earned second prize and $1,250 in the Dyer Center’s 2023 Big Idea Competition for their Think Kids Liberia initiative, a reading/creative arts center for children ages 5-15 in Monrovia, Liberia, to address issues of reading illiteracy and to combine activities that make reading joyful and exciting for children.

Zachary Martin ’21  Electrical and Computer Engineering major and Religious Studies minor: NSF-GRFP honorable mention 2024. Engineering Graduate Fellowship and Provost’s Graduate Fellowship: Ph.D. Program within Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University to develop porous silicon biosensors for disease detection. He also earned a Department of Defense SMART Scholarship in 2019 and worked at Picatinny Arsenal, Morris County, N.J., where the Army develops armaments and munitions.

Sasha Neefe ’21 Chemical Engineering major and Environmental Studies minor: NSF-GRFP honorable mention 2024. GAANN fellowship for sustainable polymers, CU Boulder, Fall 2023. Chairs fellowship recipient, CU Boulder, August 2022. Dean’s Future Leaders Fellowship Recipient, CU Boulder, May 2022. At Lafayette she was an undergraduate research mentor and the environmental justice seminar series founder/organizer. Sasha is studying sustainable membrane technology in her Ph.D. at CU Boulder and then plans to work in renewable energy at NREL as a researcher.

Remy Oktay ‘24 Engineering Studies and Environmental Studies double major and Data Science minor: George Wharton Pepper Prize for the Class of 2024 . At Lafayette Remy was a Bergh Family Fellow summer researcher, Creative and Performing Arts Scholar, Marquis Fellow, Dyer Center for Innovation + Entrepreneurship Student Innovation Lead, resident of the Green House Sustainability Living Learning Community. Among his many accomplishments at Lafayette including what is presumed to be the first manned electric plane stadium flyover at the Lafayette vs. Lehigh football game, Remy developed and installed environmentally friendly tree swings throughout campus to celebrate Earth Month. He plans to launch a company that brings the joy of tree swings to other college campuses, parks, and green spaces nationwide.

Tyler Osipower ‘24 Mechanical Engineering and Government and Law minor:   George Wharton Pepper Prize finalist, 2024 Interfraternity Council president. At Lafayette he was a member of Delta Tau Delta, the Board of Trustees Student Associate for Grounds & Buildings, Board of Trustees Student Associate for Development, Alumni, and Community Relations, on the Student Conduct Committee, Alumni Association Board, Newman Catholic Association, Ambassadors of Lafayette, Lafayette Student Alumni Council, and Lafayette MOSAIC PenPals Project.

Madaleine Perry ‘24 Mechanical Engineering and Theater double major: George Wharton Pepper Prize Finalists, Clinton Kline Prize. At Lafayette she was a member of Alpha Psi Omega, the ASME, SWE, Arts Society, Pottery Club, Yarn Club, Lafayette Happiness Project, LaFarm volunteer, and student representative on the Mechanical Engineering Department Faculty Search Committee spring 2023. She has also been a volunteer with Canine Partners for Life. Madeleine plans to earn her professional engineering license and work in the live entertainment engineering industry.