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News Elias Hilliard

Mechanical Engineering Major

Meet Elias Hilliard, a junior in mechanical engineering. He is doing research with this year’s Beitle Veltri Teaching Award winner, Dr. Jeffrey Vipperman, associate professor of mechanical engineering and bioengineering, to earn credits toward his major.

Elias is designing and building a pair of heat exchangers for the University’s prototype thermoacoustic refrigerator, a sound-powered refrigeration device. This gives Elias the opportunity to apply course concepts from his thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer courses.

The Co-op Program

Elias lives in Oakland—the community where the University of Pittsburgh is situated—year-round with four other engineering students from his freshman class. He and each of his roommates participate in the Co-op Program, and Elias will be beginning his third work rotation at Eaton Corporation’s Technology and Quality Center located in Pittsburgh. At Eaton, Elias works alongside engineers on a daily basis designing and developing low voltage power circuit breakers.

Campus Life

He believes that being involved in campus activities is important, and Elias is a member of ASME and Tau Beta Pi Engineering National Honor Society, and Treasurer of Pi Tau Sigma International Mechanical Engineering Society. He also plays in Pitt’s intramural spring and summer soccer league with his friends.

As he finishes his junior year, Elias is thinking about his future. After receiving his bachelors in mechanical engineering, he plans to attend graduate school in pursuit of a master’s degree in the same field.

In his free time, Elias likes to play chess, read popular fiction novels, and listen to classic rock.

Benedum Hall

Dedicated in 1971, Benedum Hall is home to exploration and discovery.

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