IEEE, HKN, and Radio Club

ECE student groups maintained an active community even within the constraints of social distancing and other campus pandemic protocols and despite the fact that most student events moved to an online format. The IEEE student branch hosted an ice cream social, several skills workshops and Zoom study sessions. The HKN chapter hosted a Founders Day celebration, a Zoom industry panel and a Zoom alumni career panel. The Amateur Radio Club completed an antenna upgrade.

Student Awards

The Gamma Theta chapter of Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the ECE honor society, was a co-winner of the 2018-19 Outstanding Chapter Award.  Twenty-Six HKN chapters were recognized for scholarship, professional development and service. Also, Spring Chapter President Chelsea Shaffer received honorable mention in the Outstanding Student Award program.

The IEEE St. Louis Section recognized ECE with the following 2020 awards:

• Outstanding Student Organization – Gamma Theta HKN chapter
• Outstanding Organization – ECE department, Missouri S&T
• Outstanding IEEE Graduate Student – Chen Zhu

ECE student Michael Nacy was elected as a student director to the Grand Council of Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity.  He represents students on this national governing board.

Faculty Awards

Daryl Beetner received the 2020 Technical Achievement Award from the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society.

The IEEE St. Louis Section recognized the following ECE faculty: Kristen Donnell, Outstanding Educator; Theresa Swift, Woman in Engineering; and Maciej Zawoniok, Outstanding Branch Counselor.

Rui Bo received an S&T Faculty Excellence Award.

 Kristen Donnell, Kurt Kosbar, Pourya Shamsi and Joe Stanley received the Outstanding Teaching Award and Daryl Beetner and Mehdi Ferdowsi received Outstanding Teaching Commendations from the campus for 2019-2020.

ECE Alumni

Peter W. Sauer, EE’69, received the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the IEEE Power & Energy Society. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

M. Ryan Bales, EE’04, MS EE’06, is serving a two-year term on the board of governors for IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu. He is a senior research engineer at Georgia Tech Research Institute.