SOCORRO, N.M. – New Mexico Tech students Margaret House and Alexander Kral were awarded exclusive scholarships from the national Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society.

House is a chemical engineering senior. A native of the Albuquerque area, she went to high school at the Southwest Aeronautics, Mathematics and Science, or SAMS, Academy. She decided to study chemical engineering after taking dual enrollment classes in chemistry while in high school.

A 4.0 student, House has been doing research with Dr. John McCoy of the Materials Engineering Department ever since her freshman year. She has worked as a teaching assistant in chemical engineering, assisting new freshmen develop and build a “Chem-E Car.” House also has been involved in campus chapters of Tau Beta Pi and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, serving as an officer in both clubs.

“I like the fact that I get to do activities and club planning with people outside of my major,” she said. “Sometimes you get tunnel vision into only your department. I feel like when I participate in Tau Beta Pi I get to meet fellow seniors and juniors in other engineering departments and hear what going on across campus.”

House aims to pursue a doctorate in chemical engineering after finishing her bachelor’s at NMT.

Kral is a senior in electrical engineeringing. He graduated from Southwest Secondary High School in Albuquerque and intends to pursue a Ph.D. after finishing his bachelor’s in May 2019.

Kral said he enjoys Tau Beta Pi because he likes getting involved in volunteer work and the chapter is quite active throughout the school year. He has served as an officer in Tau Beta Pi since being inducted in the spring 2016 semester.

“I think the national organization is really good. They do a great job of supporting our local chapter,” Kral said. I went to a regional conference in Flagstaff with three other members and we saw how much work the national organization puts into supporting us.”

All of the winners nationwide have high GPAs, but what sets them apart is the extracurricular activities.

Tau Beta Pi students do tutoring at the Socorro Youth Center. The chapter also organizes and runs events during the N.M. Science Olympiad on campus every year. Students in Tau Beta Pi also volunteer with Puerto Seguro, the local drop-in homeless shelter and food bank. They hold food drives every semester and help out at the shelter on Fridays. They also volunteer to run an arts-and-crafts booth during the annual Community Arts Party.

House and Kral will receive $2,000 awards, based on both their academic excellence, extracurricular achievements and community involvement. Tau Beta Pi members submit essays and recommendation letters from faculty members. Each of the award winners receives $1,000 per semester for the 2018-2019 school year.

Founded in 1885, Tau Beta Pi is the nation's oldest and largest engineering honor society. Student members are presumed to be talented engineers or engineering students who have also demonstrated qualities of leadership and service. By becoming a member of an honor society, students join others with similar interests and high achievements.

– NMT –