Each year, the Columbia Electrical Engineering Department honors its outstanding EE/CE seniors with prestigious awards recognizing their achievements in various fields. The 2024 Senior Awards highlight the exceptional talents, passions, and accomplishments of students who have excelled in areas such as research, teaching, and service.
Edwin Howard Armstrong Memorial Award
Named in honor of the pioneering inventor and Columbia professor Edwin Howard Armstrong, this award is presented to one distinguished Bachelor of Science student.
- Recipient: Mustafa Mert Saygi
- Major: Electrical Engineering
- Minor: Mechanical Engineering
- Contributions: Research at the MR Scientific Engineering for Clinical Excellence Lab and involvement in the Columbia University Formula Racing Program.
- Future Plans: Pursuing an Integrated BS/MS in Electrical Engineering at Columbia, followed by a career as a Power Electronics Test Engineer at Tesla.
Student Excellence Award in Information & Systems
Recognizing excellence in the field of Information and Systems, this award is given to an outstanding graduating senior.
- Recipient: Jacqueline Yang
- Focus: Signals track
- Contributions: Research assistant at Lightwave Research Laboratory and the Wright Group, TA for several courses, and president of Tau Beta Pi's NY Alpha chapter.
- Future Plans: Pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow.
Student Excellence Award in Electronics, Circuits, and Physics
Awarded to a senior who has shown exceptional passion in the fields of electronics, circuits, and physics.
- Recipient: Zichen Qian
- Contributions: Research in computer vision and IoT, Columbia University Formula Racing, and In-Memory Computing circuits at VLSI Lab.
- Future Plans: Continuing studies in the Integrated BS/MS Program at Columbia.
Department Research Award
Awarded to a senior with exceptional research achievements.
- Recipient: Ahuva Malka Bechhofer
- Contributions: Research on next-gen wireless communications at the WiMNet Lab, presented work at SIGCOMM'23, Data Science Day, and other conferences.
- Future Plans: Apply digital signal processing skills in industry.
Department Service Award
This award honors seniors who has made significant contributions to the department and the larger community.
- Recipient: Mandi Xu
- Contributions: Public Relations Chair and President of Columbia's IEEE Student Chapter, research on graphene applications, and development of data projects.
- Future Plans: Working as a Systems Engineer for AT&T.
- Recipient: Jacqueline Yang
- Focus: Signals track
- Contributions: Research assistant at Lightwave Research Laboratory and the Wright Group, TA for several courses, and president of Tau Beta Pi's NY Alpha chapter.
- Future Plans: Pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow.
Department Teaching Award
Recognizing seniors for excellent teaching performance.
- Recipient: Oumaima Fares
- Contributions: Teaching Assistant for Future Energy, led the Columbia team in the Hydropower Collegiate Competition, and research in battery storage.
- Future Plans: Working at a renewable energy firm while completing an MS.
- Recipient: Kamil Zajkowski
- Contributions: Specializing in circuits and excelling as a Teaching Assistant.
- Future Plans: Pursuing a Ph.D.
Computer Engineering Award of Excellence
Awarded to an outstanding senior in the Computer Engineering program.
Recipients:
- Aiko Gerra: Studied Computer Architecture, Networks, and was a TA for Java. Will join Google after graduation.
- Andrew Cheng: Research across the hardware-software stack, TA for multiple courses. Will pursue a Ph.D. at Harvard.
The 2024 Senior Awards recognize these exemplary students for their academic achievements, leadership, and dedication to the field of electrical and computer engineering.
