ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Tech recognized and presented awards to the top four engineering students as selected by faculty members who are Professional Engineers at New Mexico Tech.

The Outstanding Engineering Student of the Year is Margaret House. The first runner-up is Riley Myers. There was a tie for second runner-up between Jared Lam and Carson Healy. Dean of Engineering Dr. Kevin Wedeward presented the awards at the annual banquet of the Society of Professional Engineers on Friday, Feb. 22, in Albuquerque.

The SPE also honored mechanical engineering professor Dr. Ashok Ghosh as the Engineer of the Year. This award is given to an individual who has demonstrated the ability to link engineering education with professional practice in addition to the contribution made to community services. The daylong conference is an annual event that coincides with National Engineering Week. 

Margaret House

A native of Rio Rancho, House is graduating this year with a degree in chemical engineering. She has won numerous awards at New Mexico Tech, including the Macey Scholarship and the national Tau Beta Pi Scholarship. She also won an award for her research poster at the national AIChE conference in 2018.

Due to her analytical skills and willingness to help other students, House was selected to assist with the “introduction to chemical engineering” course. She helps teams of freshmen design, build and test cars that run on non-traditional chemical reactions, and also serves as a mentor to new students.

Outside academics, she has an ongoing internship with Sandia National Labs and enjoys playing the guitar. House plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering with an emphasis on polymers and nanomaterials. She has several schools under consideration and noted a difficult choice ahead.

(Pictured at right are Riley Myers, Carson Healy, Jared Lam, Dean of Engineering Dr. Kevin Wedeward, and Dr. Thomas Engler. Overall winner Margaret House was unable to attend the luncheon).

Riley Myers

Myers hails from Las Cruces and has almost completed a degree in electrical engineering, and will continue for one more year to complete an additional degree in computer science.

Myers works as a systems administrator for the computer science department as well as a teaching assistant for courses in both computer science and electrical engineering. Myers volunteers to mentor K-12 students on robotics and assists with coordination of related competitions around the state.

When not studying, Myers enjoys being outdoors and rock climbing. After graduation, Myers plans to attend graduate school and study embedded security.

Myers was nominated by the faculty of the electrical engineering department, Department chair Dr. Aly El-Osery attended the ceremony.

Jared Lam

Lam is a native of Socorro and will complete his degree in environmental engineering this May. Lam has won numerous awards at New Mexico Tech, including the Macey Scholarship.

He served as president of New Mexico Tech’s Environmental Engineering Club, and his academic performance resulted in him being asked to serve as a teaching assistant for several courses. Lam also works as a research assistant on a project that addresses air quality sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory.

When not studying, Lam can be found knitting, whittling, and mountain biking. He will stay on at New Mexico Tech to complete his Master's Degree in environmental engineering, after which he plans to start his career working as an EIT and ultimately become a Professional Engineer.

Lam was nominated for the award by Kip Carrico, associate professor of environmental engineering.

Carson Healy

Healy came to us from the small town of Ferron, in southeastern Utah, and will complete his degree in petroleum engineering with a minor in petroleum geology this May.

Healy is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ student chapter, and is noted by his department “to have the technical skills to complete engineering design and analysis as well as the “hands on” skills to accomplish the work.” As an example, the industrial partner for his senior design team’s project is planning to drill oil wells based, in part, on his team’s work.

When taking a break from his studies, he can be found outdoors playing golf or looking for an adventure in the Magdalena Mountains. Healy has accepted a position with SM Energy Company in Midland, Texas where he will work after graduation.

Healy was nominated for the award by Tom Engler, professor of petroleum engineering, who is here today representing the department.

Honorable Mention

Four other students were nominated following selection as the outstanding engineering student in their respective departments:

• Bon Durica, Mineral Engineering
• Emilio Herrera, Mechanical Engineering
• Owen Parkins, Computer Science
• Brennan Stubbs, Materials Engineering

 – NMT –