Academics

Academic Excellence Program Annual BBQ Provides Networking Opportunity

The Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering Alabama Power and Southern Company Academic Excellence Program annual barbecue and awards ceremony was held in early April in Shelby Center’s Kingsley Courtyard.

Charles McCrary, president and CEO of Alabama Power Company and an Auburn University trustee, was the guest speaker. Approximately 20 employees from Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Southern Company were on hand to visit with students during the event, providing an excellent opportunity for engineering students to network.

This academic excellence program provides support for first and second-year students and is designed to enhance the recruitment and retention of under-represented minority engineering students at Auburn University. It has been in existence since 1997 and has been the catalyst for graduating some of the nation's brightest minority engineering students.

Engineering Students Study in China

Five seniors from Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering traveled to China’s Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (TYUST) in May to study global engineering perspectives, a three hour special topics course, as part of a partnership between TYUST and Auburn that will allow students the opportunity to study outside of the United States.

Courtney Burden, a materials engineering major, Eric Gagnet, a civil engineering major, Joseph Nickerson, a civil engineering major, Patrick Smyth, a mechanical engineering major, and Kristina Vines, a materials engineering major, also participated in TYUST research projects and took a series of short courses and seminars in their respective areas of study. In addition, they visited major industrial sites in Taiyuan and learned basics of the Chinese language, culture, history and engineering practices.