Six student organizations honored for their community impact

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Five smiling students and a staff member pose with a jumbo check and a sign.
The Biomedical Engineering Society was named the 2019 Outstanding Student Organization.

The Ohio State University College of Engineering recognized six student organizations for excellence in leadership, outreach and service at the fifth annual Student Organization Recognition & Awards ceremony on April 4.

Students in these organizations are committed to improving not only campus communities, but communities around the globe. These organizations provide Buckeye engineers with the opportunity to practice the skills that they’ve learned throughout their academic careers in real-world situations.

“The college values student involvement in student organizations as a form of experiential learning,” said David Tomasko, associate dean of undergraduate education and student services. “We’re proud to recognize their efforts as students serving the broader community and promoting engineering.”

The 2019 winner of the highest honor, the Outstanding Student Organization Award, was the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) for their involvement, impact, large number of active members, diverse activities and communication of results. Along with the award, BMES received a $1,000 donation. They also received honorable mentions and two $100 prizes for the Outstanding Community or University Service and Outstanding Partnership with an Industry Awards.

Five other organizations were honored for their efforts to better the Ohio community and beyond. Each of these awardees received a $500 donation in support of future endeavors.

The Outstanding Community or University Service Award went to Engineers for Community Service (ECOS) for their sustained service activities and broad interdisciplinary participation. The group’s activities this year include building wheelchair ramps for central Ohio community members with need, hosting technology help sessions for senior citizens and conducting weekly engineering outreach activities with kids in an afterschool program.

The Theme Park Engineering Group (TPEG) won the Outstanding Partnership with Industry Award. TPEG capitalized on their industry relationships to create the first student-led conference for theme park entertainment at Ohio State, which was attended by representatives from 10 companies and 65 students from 14 universities.

Seven smiling students pose with their advisor in front of an Ohio State University backdrop.
The Outstanding Partnership with Industry Award went to the Theme Park Engineering Group.
In recognition of their fun and engaging activities that touched hundreds of girls and introduced them to computer science, hackathons, coding and science, the Association for Computing Machinery - Committee on Women in Computing (ACM-W) took the 2019 K-12 Outreach Award. This group also received $100 and an honorable mention for the Publicity Excellence award.

The Publicity Excellence Award went to entrepreneurial startup club D3 (Design, Develop, Deploy) for reflecting the most positively on the College of Engineering through their activities and social media communication. D3 has gained an international following on social media and has over 600 Instagram followers.

Finally, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) took home the Diversity and Inclusion Enhancement Award. SHPE has demonstrated an inclusive mindset and culture at Ohio State and within the College of Engineering through their inclusivity and many activities, including industry networking events, a holiday toy drive and outreach events for K-12 students and their parents.

Aimee Ulstad, associate clinical professor of integrated systems engineering, received the 2019 Outstanding Advisor Award for her leadership and guidance of the Society of Women Engineers.

There are 110 student organizations in the College of Engineering, including honoraries, project teams, diversity-related student organizations and eight graduate student organizations.