While the sun sets on their undergraduate studies, the journey is just beginning for GW Engineering’s Class of 2026. They came together on May 13th to celebrate their accomplishments and pledge their commitment to being responsible members of the engineering and computing professions as they begin their careers.
At the Order of the Engineer and the Pledge of the Computing Professional Induction Ceremonies, graduates received a symbol of this shared commitment to using their technical knowledge for societal benefit. Engineers receive a stainless steel ring worn on the working hand, while computing professionals receive a lapel pin consisting of a matrix of ones and zeros spelling out the word “Honor.”
The award ceremony that immediately followed honored individual academic contributions and achievements of the graduating class. The Engineer’s Council opened the Undergraduate Awards Ceremony by presenting the winners of student-voted awards, including:
- Perfect Attendance Award: Ali Mourad-Aziz
- Most Likely to be Found in Tompkins after Midnight Award: Kaan Tastan
- Most Likely to be Found in SEH after Midnight Award: Salman Niazi
- Most Likely to be Found in Machine Shop Award: Lucy Truemper
- Most Likely to be Found in the GW Innovation Center Award: Jared Kusner
- Class Clown Award: Kaan Tesfaye
- Most Likely to Change the World Award: Angie Abd Al Rahman
- Most Sustainable Award: Olivia Landriscina
- Nut & Bolt Award: Olivia Landriscina and Maya Lerma
- Best Study Buddy Award: Kurdo Shali
- Ray of Sunshine Award: Sherif Abden
Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Rumana Riffat then came to the podium to present various academic awards, starting with candidates who are graduating with particular distinction:
- The Abdelfattah Abdalla Prize, recognizing scholarship and service by an upper-division student in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science, was awarded to Maren McCrossan.
- The GW Engineering Dean’s Alumni Prize, recognizing a graduating student who has shown a commitment to the university and the school, outstanding leadership in campus and community activities, and curricular and extracurricular accomplishments, was awarded to Luca Caruso.
- The Norman B. Ames Award, given by the Engineers’ Council to seniors who have made significant contributions to the student body, to SEAS, and to the university community, was awarded to Treesta James, Thomas Schmidt, and Grace Nowicki.
- The William and Louise Corcoran Service Award, given each year to honor those who have done the most to support GW Engineering, was awarded to Elliesa Abrishamchian and Marilyn Shields.
- The George Ellowitz Award, given to a junior or graduating senior for demonstrated excellence and interest in the humanities or social sciences, was awarded to Ali Mourad-Aziz, Mia Carlson, and Swetha Somasundaram.
- The Martin Mahler Prize, recognizing an upper-class or graduate student who submits the best reports on tests in the materials laboratories class, was awarded to Sophia Davis.
- The Neilom Prize for Social Impact, recognizing two students who have an interest in the application of engineering to an area of social change, was awarded to Alexandra Mandewo and Amna Maqsood.
Each year, department leadership has the difficult task of choosing one winner from among the outstanding Senior Design Projects created over the course of the academic year. The winners of the Class of 2026 Best Senior Design Project for each department were:
- Best Senior Design Project in the Department of Biomedical Engineering: Austin Brotemarkle, Allison Freeman, and Camil Walkiewicz-Yvon for their project titled, “Self-Guided REBOA Training Protocol on HoloLens 2.”
- Best Senior Design project in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Valentina Casasus, Nathanielle Campo, and Yoni Haim for their project titled, “Oakwood Road Intersection: Safety and Mobility Design in a School Zone.”
- Best Senior Design Project in the Department of Computer Science, named after former faculty and GW Engineering alumnus Arnold C. Meltzer: Adam Gizis, Derek Chen, Ian Nappi, and Ivan Mejia for their project titled, “BetterBus: A Web-Based Platform for Bus Planning.”
- Best Senior Design Project in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, named after former faculty member Derril Rohlf: Olivia Landriscina, Maya Lerma, and Ali Mourad-Aziz for their project titled, “FilterFirst: Smart Portable Water Filter.”
- Best Senior Design Project in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering: Donia Drias, Kaitlyn Frost, and Colin Schwabicello for their project titled, “Enhancing DC Emergency Department Flow Through EMS Coordination and its Impact on Patient Outcomes.”
- Best Senior Design Project in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: Leonardo Borchert, Tyler Jones, Lean Albeshri, and Shota Kakiuchi for their project titled, “Altitude Targeting High Power Rocket System.”
An additional award presented by the Department of Computer Science was the Gary and Judy Bard Entrepreneurial Award, given to the best senior design project with an E-commerce focus. Daffa Warsa, Isabella Dayri, Mena Hailemariam, and Yousra Elzamzami received this award for their project, “Pocket Pantry.”
From among these innovative projects, each department can also nominate one project with a focus on patentability and/or being green to compete in the Pelton Senior Design Competition. These projects are reviewed by a committee, and one is named the overall winner. The results this year were:
- In 3rd place was the LoCAS: A Localized Collection and Analysis System for Real-Time Analyzed Data for Smart Greenhouses group.
- In 2nd place was the ATRS: Active Airbrake Control for Altitude Targeting in High-Power Rockets group.
- The winning team was Camila Hurtado, Bridget Burke, Jacob Dela Rosa-Frio, Sherif Abden, and Angie Abd Al Rahman for their project titled “NipGen: A Novel Smart-Sensing System for Real-Time Breastfeeding Analysis.”
Lastly, Interim Dean Jason Zara presented the winners of the Benjamin C. Cruickshank Award. Established in 1991 by the Engineer Alumni Association, this award recognizes the top scholars in each of the Bachelor of Science programs. This year’s recipients include:
- Biomedical Engineering: Kenzie Macgillivray
- Civil Engineering: Delaney Haas
- Computer Engineering: Andre Mattos Barretto Cunha Ferraz
- Systems Engineering: Colin Schwabicello
- Electrical Engineering (EE): Mustafa Farooq, who also received the Philip B. Kaplan prize, given to the graduating EE senior with the highest grade point average
- Computer Science: Ciaran Krabak, who also received the Alfred Martin Freudenthal Prize, given to the graduating senior with the highest grade point average across the school
- Mechanical Engineering: Marc-Andrew Bertin, who also received GW Engineering’s 2026 Distinguished Scholar Award for academic excellence, in and out of the classroom
To close out the award ceremony, Zara offered a final toast in celebration of the graduating seniors: “To you, the GW Engineering Class of 2026–may you stay connected to GW and each other, may you take what you have learned and experienced here and lead a life of honor and positive societal impact, and may GW Engineering be the loudest school on the National Mall Sunday morning! I wish you all the very best in your future personal and professional endeavors.”