2019 Rawson Scholarship Recipient Update

Read the accomplishments of our 2019 scholarship recipients below.

Lauren Coolbaugh - Western Kentucky University
I will be a senior at Western Kentucky University in the Fall. Over the last year, I have faced several challenges and been given several opportunities. One of the most amazing opportunities I was given is to be able to Study Abroad in Segovia, Spain during the summer of 2019. I also interned as a Manufacturing Engineer at Henkel, where I helped to improve the process lines in the Laundry Detergent Factory. I have encountered several challenges along the way one including being faced with online engineering courses. Some have been better than others, but it has been eye-opening to see how universities are able to operate online, and how much more difficult it has been to learn the content. I am excited to see what my senior year has in store for me, and hopefully by that time be back to a new “normal”.

Megan Herrington - University of Tulsa
This year I took on some challenging courses and got involved on campus while working towards my Chemical Engineering Degree and declared minors in Mathematics and Physics. I became a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, the Society of Women Engineers, the Society of Women in Physics, as well as a campus organization known as University Ambassadors.

I’ve been able to establish meaningful relationships with my professors and, while my summer research internship was canceled because of the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, I’m hopeful that I will get to work in a research lab in the Chemical Engineering department in the fall. Of all my experiences this year, two of my favorite things have been working as a mentor in Tulsa Girls Math Circle for middle school students and serving on the Honors Selection Committee this past Spring!

Kolby Kiesling – Abilene Christian
It was a bit of a hectic end for my senior year. I completed ~70% of assembly and testing of my senior capstone course project, prior to COVID-19.

During this year, I developed and carried out lab procedures for testing numerous sensors: depleted oxygen, nitrate, ammonium, pH, turbidity, temperature, GPS, infrared camera, conductivity. I wrote software for data acquisition purposes that harvested the sensor data from an Arduino Mega 2560 to a Raspberry Pi Model 3B 1 GB RAM using Python3. I also utilized RF communication through LoRa to transmit data from the Raspberry Pi to a remote server to display and update results.

I was inducted into the ΣπΣ honors society for physics students at my university. Out of my graduating class of more than 1,000, I was selected as 1 of 50 to be a University Scholar.

I was extended a job offer by Raytheon Technologies for software engineering but will be attending the University of Texas at Dallas for a master’s in computer science.

Erich Langstine – North Carolina State
I would like to thank ABMA for selecting me to be a 2019 recipient of the Rawson Scholarship. This scholarship has been a significant help in reducing the financial burden of my education and has allowed me to put a greater focus in my academics.

This past year, I have taken Calculus II-III, Chemistry, Physics I, and MATLAB as I have been working to officially transfer into the NCSU Mechanical Engineering department from the First-Year Engineering program. I achieved the honor of being on the Dean's list in the fall, and I am on track to achieve this again at the conclusion of this semester.

On top of my academic achievements this year, I have also accepted a Co-op position with GAF beginning January of 2021. I will be working alongside a mechanical engineer in the glass mat plant in Chester, SC and working to maintain and improve the machinery in the plant which operates 24/7.

Xavier Rios – University of North Texas
I completed my 4th semester as a mechanical engineering student and earned my 4th academic honor from UNT.

I was recently interviewed by the engineering department for an article on undergraduate successes in college. I was chosen based on my stellar academic achievements, many scholarships and community engagement.

Engineering has been a huge passion of mine, but recently I have also added a major in Math with a focus in statistics to my college career plan. With the move to South Texas, I will be attending the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where I will be studying Statistics. I plan to work with professors on applied research and plan to work with hospitals assisting in valuable data collection that could help doctors and nurses find patterns in curing patients.

I am grateful to ABMA for being such a valuable resource to me and I highly recommend all engineers who look to go into the boiler industry to pursue this scholarship in the future!

Ethan Venegoni – Abilene Christian
My school year at Abilene Christian University has greatly exceeded my expectations. In these past two semesters, I have taken two upper-level calculus classes, my first of two fundamental physics classes, an introduction class to learning about circuits and electrical engineering, and also have learned how to make and use CAD drawings to design products.

I was initially planning on joining ACU on a summer study abroad program to Leipzig, Germany, but due to this virus, this opportunity is fading fast. Despite this, I have inquired with two potential companies about internships over this summer to replace this trip to Germany.

Next semester, I am planning on taking my last fundamental physics class and three classes with a concentration on mechanical engineering.

I have had such an amazing freshman year at Abilene Christian, and it is all thanks to everyone at ABMA.

Emily Wolf - IUPUI
After this grading period, I will have made a 4.0 GPA for the year and have been very successful in all my classes.

I was able to attend a supply chain management panel and learn a lot more about the major. Supply chain management is essential in manufacturing and distribution, and I think it will help me be successful in any industry, especially with boilers. I have fully signed on to complete three majors in Supply Chain Management as well as Marketing and Business Management. Next year, I will start taking classes more specific to these majors.

I am also focused on community service and practice my social skills and planning. This year, I received the "Excellence Leadership" Award for my residence hall as well as the "First-Year Student Involvement Award" from the IUPUI Student Organization Center.

I've been so grateful for the assistance from ABMA with this scholarship because it has allowed me to thrive in my academic journey and worry less about the financial burden of education.