Fall 2021 Graduates
Congratulations to the seniors graduating this fall with University Honors Distinction. We are proud of your accomplishments and wish you the best in your next adventure.
View who's who by college:
Agriculture & Life Sciences | Ivy College of Business | Design
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Nourah Abusada
Iowa City, IA
Animal Ecology
Minor in Animal Science
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Education and Conservation of Rhinoceroses
Moment of pride: Completing my honors capstone project
Post-grad plans: Pursuing a PhD in veterinary medicine
Mary Figge
Green Valley, IL
Animal Science
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Consumer Education of USDA Regulated Labels and Its Effect on Purchasing Animal Products
Moment of pride: To come - there are so many to choose from
Post-grad plans: Next adventure tbd
Kate Kilmer
Geneva, IL
Animal Ecology
Participation & Awards: Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Iowa Turtle Care: Guidelines for Wildlife Rehabilitators and Educators
Moment of pride: Serving as president of the Wild Animals Club
Post-grad plans: Attending veterinary school at Purdue University
Katelynn Panning
Janesville, IA
Animal Ecology
Minors in Animal Science and Leadership Studies
Honors Project: The Cycle of Microplastics in Aquatic Environment
Moment of pride: To come - there are so many to choose from
Post-grad plans: Further education that allows me to participate in the rescue, rehabilitation, and study of marine mammals and sea turtles
Ivy College of Business
Abby Peterson
Pella, IA
Supply Chain Management, International Business
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Peace, Cocaine, and Supply Chain Resiliency
Moment of pride: Election as Gamma Phi Beta's financial vice president and handling financial operations during the pandemic
Post-grad plans: Employed as an account executive with Yellow Corporation
Devin Scott
Blue Grass, IA
Finance, Management Information Systems
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Accounting for Seasonality in Intraday Volume for Forex Volatility Measures
Moment of pride: To come - there are so many to choose from
Post-grad plans: Next adventure tbd
College of Design
Shivang Patel
Gujarat, India
Architecture Professional Degree
Minor in Sustainability
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: World Money Laundering Organization
Moment of pride: Top 2% of class and serving as vice president of the Inter-Residence Hall Association
Post-grad plans: Next adventure tbd
Abby Tornow
Kalona, IA
Architecture Professional Degree
Minor in Sustainability
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Biomimicry in Architecture
Moment of pride: Serving as president of Alpha Sigma Kappa – Women in Technical Studies
Post-grad plans: Employed as an architect intern with Shive-Hattery in Iowa City
College of Engineering
Dakota Berbrich
New Ulm, MN
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Minors in Cyber Security, German
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Return Oriented Programming Attack Benchmark for Decoupled Monitoring Platform
Moment of pride: Accomplishing so much during my undergraduate degree – diving into the worlds of cyber security and VLSI while also exploring a different language.
Post-grad plans: Pursing a master's in electrical engineering at Iowa State
Adam Bodenham
Mount Pleasant, IA
Aerospace Engineering
Minors in Non-destructive Evaluation, Physics
Participation & Awards: Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Design, Manufacture, and Implement of a Destructive Impact Test for FSAE Impact Attenuators
Moment of pride: Completing my honors capstone project
Post-grad plans: Employed at Spirit Aerosystems (Wichita, KS) in defense structural analysis
Matt Dwyer
Rosemount, MN
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Minor in Economics
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient, Honors Ambassador
Moment of pride: Named Interfraternity Council Scholar of the Year, 2020
Post-grad plans: Pursuing a master's in computer engineering at Iowa State
Eli Gaeta
Bettendorf, IA
Aerospace Engineering
Minor in Energy Systems
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient, Honors Ambassador
Honors Project: Small Scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Moment of pride: Completing my honors capstone project at the same time as senior design, and receiving the Overall Achievement Award in Aerospace Engineering
Post-grad plans: Employed as a mechanical engineer with Modus in Des Moines
Drew Goluch
Inverness, IL
Software Engineering
Minor in Cyber Security
Honors Project: Software Defined Internet of Things Deadbolt
Moment of pride: Selection as outstanding senior in software engineering
Post-grad plans: Employed in field of study
Victoria Hennessey
Homer Glen, IL
Mechanical Engineering
Participation & Awards: Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Engaging in Leadership: Preparing Future Engineers for the Workplace
Moment of pride: Making the Dean's List my freshman and senior years
Post-grad plans: Employed as a manufacturing engineer, Procter & Gamble (Iowa City, IA)
Paul Iman
Antioch, IL
Mechanical Engineering
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Numerical Investigation of Two-Phase Microchannel Slug Flow Hydrodynamics
Moment of pride: I am just proud I graduated
Post-grad plans: Next adventure tbd
Nolan Jessen
Marion, IA
Computer Engineering
Minor in Political Science
Participation & Awards: Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient Summer Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Analyzing Twitter Discussion on Abortion Surrounding Justice Ginsberg’s Death and the Nomination of Justice Barrett
Moment of pride: To come – there are so many to choose from
Post-grad plans: Next adventure tbd
Zach Kauffman
Woodbury, MN
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Participation & Awards: Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Breaking Free From Big Tech: Building an Open Source Smart Home
Moment of pride: Graduating Summa Cum Laude
Post-grad plans: Employed as a hardware developer with IBM (Rochester, MN)
Tim Kaufmann
Cedar Rapids, IA
Chemical Engineering
Minor in Biochemistry
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Modeling Calcium Alginate Diffusion
Moment of pride: Completing my honors project junior year
Post-grad plans: Employed as a process engineer with Lesaffre (Cedar Rapids, IA)
Sylvia Knight
Plainfield, IL
Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Minor in Political Science
Participation & Awards: Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient, Honors Ambassador
Honors Project: Does Polarization Turn off Younger Voters?: Investigating the Effects of the 2016 Presidential Election on the 18-22 Age Bracket
Moment of pride: Working as an undergraduate TA for IE 148 for the 2020-21 academic year
Post-grad plans: Pursuing a master's in industrial engineering at Iowa State
Josh Slagle
Marion, IA
Software Engineering, Physics, and Mathematics
Participation & Awards: Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Python and C++ for Budding Physicists
Moment of pride: Serving as outreach director for Prisum Solar Car
Post-grad plans: Employed as an advanced technology software engineer in Mission Systems with Collins Aerospace
Brian Todey
Ames, IA
Civil Engineering
Minor in Urban Studies
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient Mentor, and UHP Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Determining the Viability of Paper and Non-Synthetic Wax for Food Packaging
Moment of pride: The title I earned as an FHP leader, "formally" acknowledged with Laurie's signature
Post-grad plans: Employed with ISG (St. Paul, MN) as an engineer working with sports and recreation design
Alex Vande Loo
Stewartville, MN
Aerospace Engineering
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient, UHP Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Robotics Development
Moment of pride: Getting published with my research team
Post-grad plans: Employed as an electrical engineer with Sierra Space (Madison, WI)
Brett White
Macedonia, OH
Software Engineering
Minors in Cyber Security, Data Science
Participation & Awards: Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: A Ruggedness Test Approach to the Design of an Automated Defect Inspection System
Moment of pride: Graduating with honors
Post-grad plans: Employed with Microsoft
College of Human Sciences
Danielle Elliott
Minden, IA
Event Management
Minor in General Business
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Effective STEM Learning in Vehicle Maintenance for Teenage Girls
Moment of pride: Serving on the executive team for Dance Marathon
Post-grad plans: Internship with the College World Series, followed by graduate school in the fall for Sports Management
Kelli Fogt
Waukee, IA
Kinesiology & Health
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Ground Reaction Forces Using Mobilegs Crutches vs Traditional Crutches
Moment of pride: To come - there are so many to choose from
Post-grad plans: Next adventure tbd
Amy Schraeder
Olathe, KS
Apparel, Merchandising, and Design
Minor in Sustainability
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Fashion Shows in the Age of Covid-19
Moment of pride: My leadership roles with my sorority, ISU Panhellenic Council, and with the Iowa State Fashion Show
Post-grad plans: Employed as an allocation analyst with Kohls
Rachel Sodawasser
Marion, IA
Nutritional Science (H Sci)
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Analysis of Possible Contributing Factors and Solutions to Low Enrollment in the Pre-Health Students Majoring in Nutritional Science at Iowa State University
Moment of pride: Being selected as the Fall 2021 College of Human Sciences student marshal
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Calvin Clark
Fort Dodge, IA
Journalism & Mass Communication, Performing Arts
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: "Our Community Carol" - Theatrical Evolution in a Post-COVID World
Moment of pride: Figured out Gogurt was actually just yogurt
Post-grad plans: Working in television production at Iowa PBS
Alejandra Flores Renteria
Chihuahua, Mexico
Political Science, History
Minor in Philosophy
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Russian Intervention in Venezuela
Moment of pride: Serving as president of the International Student Council
Post-grad plans: Pursuing a spring internship followed by graduate school in international affairs
Meg Grice
Humboldt, IA
Public Relations, International Studies
Minors in General Business and French
Participation & Awards: HON 121 Leader, Mentor Program Participant, Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: The Public Relations and Cultural Landscape in Belgium
Moment of pride: Selected as student marshal for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences fall 2021 graduation ceremonies
Post-grad plans: Pursuing a position at a regional PR firm
Lexi Spencer
Ham Lake, MN
Psychology
Minor in Child & Adolescent Family Services
Participation & Awards: Mentor Grant Recipient
Honors Project: Neuroticism: Is It a Predictor or Manifestation of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Moment of pride: To come - there are so many to choose from
Post-grad plans: Next adventure tbd
