February 21, 2008
News View Article
Pitt 2007 Goldwater Scholar Benjamin Gordon Honored With Inaugural George Washington Prize for Engineering StudentsAnnual $5,000 prize intended to enhance the engineering field by helping notable students further their engineering education
University of Pittsburgh engineering graduate student and 2007 Barry M.
Goldwater Scholar Benjamin Gordon received the inaugural George
Washington Prize, a $5,000 award to be presented annually to a Pitt
engineering senior to help further that student's engineering
education. Pitt and the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania
recognized Gordon at ESWP's 124th Annual Banquet Feb. 20 at Heinz Field.
The
George Washington Prize is named after the United States' first
president-who also is being celebrated as America's first engineer
during this, National Engineers Week (Feb. 17-23)-and is intended to
advance the engineering field by enabling promising students to further
their education. Each year's recipient also will be offered a $5,000
Dean's Fellowship from Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering should he
or she pursue postgraduate education at the University. These awards
would supplement any others the student receives.
Gordon is a
graduate student in the Swanson School's Department of Mechanical
Engineering and Materials Science and, as a Pitt undergraduate, was a
student in both the Swanson School and the University Honors College.
He graduated from Pitt with a bachelor's degree in mechanical
engineering in December 2007 and was the sole speaker at the Swanson
School's graduation ceremony. Gordon plans to earn a PhD degree in
mechanical engineering and become an engineering professor, teaching
and conducting research in smart structures applications.
Gordon
grew up in a community plagued with poverty and crime and, at age 15,
had adult independence thrust upon him when his mother died. It was a
struggle not to become a tragic statistic, but his mother had stressed
that a proper education was one of the keys to improving a community.
She taught Gordon about such famous African American scientists as
Benjamin Banneker, whose life story and scientific work have inspired
Gordon.
At Pitt, Gordon has excelled academically and is an
active member of his field. He has engaged in undergraduate research
since his sophomore year and presented a technical paper at a 2007
joint conference on structural dynamics hosted by engineering's leading
organizations, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
He has held many positions in Pitt engineering labs, working, for
instance, in the Sound, Systems, and Structures Laboratory researching
thermoacoustics, the conversion of sound energy into heat energy, and
vice versa, with particular interest in improving the efficiency and
performance of a prototype model for a thermoacoustical refrigerator.
Gordon was named to the National Dean's List in 2007. He also earned a
place on the Swanson School Dean's Honors List every semester since the
fall of 2005 and was presented with the Swanson School's Student
Achievement Award last year.
Gordon has exhibited particular
devotion both to bettering his profession and encouraging young African
Americans to pursue engineering careers. “Minority Opinion” magazine
recognized his devotion by presenting him with its 2007 Black Achievers
Award. From 2006 to 2007, Gordon served as chair of and as a mentor for
the National Society of Black Engineers' (NSBE) GEMSTONE program,
wherein he helped engineering freshmen at Pitt transition to college
life and excel academically. He served as NSBE's conference planning
chair the previous year. Gordon also served as a peer mentor in Pitt's
Reaching Inside Your Soul for Excellence, or RISE, program, helping to
strengthen the academic performance and retention of students at Pitt.
In addition, he tutored freshmen and sophomores weekly for two years in
such subjects as math, physics, programming, and mechanical engineering
for Pitt's EXCEL tutorial program.
