Final Phases of Driftmier Renovation Have Begun

The final phases of the Driftmier renovation began shortly after the spring semester came to a close. The third and fourth phases will transform the front section and the second floor of Driftmier and will include re-imagined and more collaborative faculty/staff offices; larger, improved areas dedicated to professional development and student success; a multipurpose event space; a student organization hub; two 50-person classrooms; a new learning design simulation lab, and a large space for tutoring and collaborative work. Construction on the first floor is expected to be completed by January 2022, with the second floor renovations due to be completed by the summer of 2022.

College of Engineering Alumni Board Applications Are Now Being Accepted

The College of Engineering Alumni Board is now accepting applications for new members. Applications are open to all 2016-2021 graduates, and the deadline to apply is June 18. If you are a recent graduate looking for a way to serve the College in a meaningful way, we encourage you to apply! For more information about the Alumni Board or how to apply, please contact Courtney Ayers, Assistant Director of Annual Giving.

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Engineering Scholarships Continue to Grow and Support More Students

As the College of Engineering continues to attract more of the best and brightest prospective engineering students, the number of scholarships the college offers has increased as well. The College has continued to add scholarships that support deserving students and enable to them to pursue their educational goals without the heavy financial burdens that often come as a result. This fall, the college will award 50 scholarships, totaling $146,500, to Engineering students.

These scholarships are made possible by generous donors who want to make a difference in the lives of students. Barnie Beasley, BSAE '73, is one such donor. He and his wife, Carla, established the Barnie and Carla Beasley Scholarship for Engineering Excellence to support deserving engineering students who rely on financial support to attend UGA. Myddie Parker, the 2020-21 recipient of the scholarship, has been the beneficiary of Mr. Beasley's incredible generosity over the past year. Hear both of their inspiring stories in the video below.

Graduating Seniors Shatter Giving Record

Congratulations to all of our Spring and Summer 2021 graduates! A total of 345 undergraduate and 27 graduate degrees will be conferred. Of these, 80 students will graduate with honors.

We would also like to thank our graduating class for its record number of Senior Signature gifts - 164 seniors made gifts for a total of $4920. We are grateful to our seniors for answering the call and making a difference for the future of UGA Engineering! For more information on Senior Signature and to view this year's virtual plaque, click here.

Engineering Professor Named Entrepreneur of the Year

Hitesh Handa, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, has been named UGA's 2021 Entrepreneur of the Year. This award, presented by the UGA Office of Research, recognizes a faculty member at UGA who has started a company in the last four years based on research originated at the University of Georgia.

Handa founded inNOveta Biomedical LLC to facilitate commercialization of his research discoveries, which have focused on development of biocompatible medical device coatings that prevent infection. His research has resulted in four issued patents and multiple pending patent applications. Read more here.

Hitesh Handa

Donor Spotlight:

Steven Scarboro

Steven Scarboro, BSAE '08, is a Georgia native and has spent his entire career with Georgia Power, currently serving as Network Underground Reliability Manager for the company. He began his time with Georgia Power with a co-op position in 2004. He also serves on the UGA Electrical Engineering Advisory Board, the UGA Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Board, and as a Georgia Power sponsor for Senior Design projects with the College. Steven and his wife, Lora, who graduated from the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, have two boys, Sawyer and Owen.

Steven recently committed to support scholarships in the College of Engineering. Here, he tells us a little bit about why he loves UGA and the College of Engineering, and what it means to him to be able to support scholarship students.

What led you to UGA as an undergrad?

"It was either there or Georgia Tech, and my father, Stan Scarboro, graduated from UGA with a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering. I wanted to follow in his footsteps, and Northeast Georgia has always felt like home."

What are your favorite memories of your time at UGA?

"One of my favorite memories has to be the lasting friendships I developed during my time at UGA. Also, the engineering faculty members who left lasting impressions on me and whom I still enjoy seeing at recruiting events today; Dr. Thompson, Dr. Gattie, and Dr. Lawrence were the most impactful during my college career. Lastly, walking through the halls of Driftmier either early in the morning to attend an early class or late after midnight while studying or completing a project, while thinking to myself that my dad walked these same halls and completed these same classes more than 30 years earlier."

What inspired you to give back to the College of Engineering?

"I had the privilege of growing up in a home without the financial burden that some homes and families have to carry, and I believe that started with my father’s education he received from UGA. I have continued to work with students over the years through recruiting efforts, sponsoring senior design capstone partnerships, and serving on advisory boards, and they never cease to amaze me with their ability to learn, grow, and engage. The students and my family inspire me to help others enjoy the same experiences and education that I received without the worry or burden of continuously increasing costs."

What led to your decision to support scholarships in the College of Engineering?

"I wanted to find a way of continuously improving how I give back to the college and the students beyond my current efforts. Education is so important, and there continues to be an increasing number of problems for future engineers to solve in our world. The UGA College of Engineering is a major part of my foundation and helped me get where I am today, and I want to help future engineering students lay that foundation that will be important for them personally and the communities they will eventually serve."

What are your hopes for the future recipients of your scholarships?

"I have three hopes. The first one is that it will relieve any financial strain they or their family may have along the way to achieving their next step in their education. The second one is that the recipients will one day themselves be inspired to give to others. My third hope is that they each find a way to impact their families and their communities through the application of their engineering knowledge and skills they established at UGA."

Steven Scarboro

Student Club Spotlight:

Student Aerospace Inititative

Keaton Coletti, a fourth year mechanical engineering major and incoming SAI president, fills us in on the exciting things happening with the group.

What is the purpose and focus of SAI?

"SAI was founded to fill a perceived need in the College of Engineering for an aerospace program. While mechanical and aerospace engineering are similar, many students wanted more. Our mission is to inspire and fulfill student interest in the aerospace fields. With that mission, our club is defined rather broadly, so we work on a broad range of projects. Our main focuses are high-power rocketry, effervescent rocketry, and fixed-wing aircraft. We've also done some work with drones, including a partnership with UGA robotics, which is seeking to build an autonomous battery-swapping system.

In addition to these projects, we host speakers and technical workshops. These are great opportunities for students to learn skills you don't always get in the classroom."

About how many students are involved in your group?

"We officially have 38 active members. An average of about 30 students attend our general meetings and speaker events, although we've had as many as 50. The pandemic hurt our numbers a bit, but I think we've done a good job of keeping things rolling and keeping people interested and involved."

What are SAI's goals and initiatives for the upcoming year?

"Our biggest technical initiative right now is to develop a competitive rocketry team. This semester we had a group of ten students build solid fuel rockets and fly them at an event in South Carolina to receive their National Association of Rocketry (NAR) Level 1 certifications. Our goal is to build a knowledge base so we can compete in events like the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) and NASA Student Launch.

We also have a new lab space that we want to continue developing. We will be competing in AlkaRocket this year, and of course our goal is to win first place. And as always, we want to keep students engaged with speakers and technical and professional development workshops."

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

"We made national finals in AlkaRocket both years we competed (only five schools make it each year), and we traveled to the Kennedy Space Center for the competitions. We did some great work both years and had a lot of involvement. I'm also proud to say that all 10 students who launched rockets this month received their Level 1 certifications.

More generally, I'm really proud of how we engage our young members. SAI doesn't require any prior experience or skills, and I think we do a good job of keeping our less experienced and younger members involved with tasks that teach valuable skills."

How are you involved in the community?

"Last semester at an AIAA conference, our president, Trevor Houghton, presented a board game intended to generate interest in engineering among young students. The outreach presentation won first place at the conference, which gave SAI a small cash prize. As Trevor transitions to a generally advisory role now, he will be working on outreach with the board game over the coming year. We are working on this project in cooperation with Dr. Ramana Pidaparti, a professor in the College of Engineering."

What would you like alumni and donors to know about your group?

"This spring, SAI became an official AIAA chapter. This opens up a number of opportunities for our club, and we're excited to be a part of a national professional organization. This, combined with our new lab space and rocketry team, are all signs of the growth of SAI. We're excited to take UGA aerospace to new heights over the next few years."

To learn more about SAI, click here.

10 SAI members earn their Level 1 certification at a launch event in South Carolina in May 2021.

SAI members at the Kennedy Space Center for the Bayer AlkaRocket Challenge in December 2019

An SAI member assembles an airplane wing for the Design-Build-Fly competition in February 2021.

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