MAE 2022 Senior Awards nominees announced

Four seniors from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering have been nominated for the 2022 Engineering Senior Awards, one of the highest forms of recognition for a senior in the College of Engineering at NC State.

There are four categories for which a student can be nominated: Citizenship and Service, Leadership, Scholarly Achievement, and Humanities. Each department within the college of engineering nominates one student for each category every year, and the winners are announced at an awards ceremony in late April.

This year, MAE nominated Solteria Ross in the category of Citizenship and Service, Lindsey Jacobson in the category of Leadership, Andrew Mistele in the category of Scholarly Achievement, and Jack Martinez in the category of Humanities. 

Solteria Ross – Citizenship and Service

Solteria is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and minors in English and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She is a Brooke Owens Fellow, an AIAA Diversity Scholar and a First-Generation College Student. 

Solteria has worked as a College of Engineering Ambassador (EA) since her sophomore year, where she performs K-12 outreach, helps first-year engineering students adjust from high school to college, and has been a Teaching Assistant for several first-year engineering courses. She has also held leadership roles in NC State’s chapter of the NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Mu Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Additionally, she has been a part of TRIO SSS-STEM, University Scholars Program, College Mentors for Kids and the NC State Dance Program. 

Solteria has completed internships at Collins Aerospace, GE Aviation, Made in Space (Redwire Space) and NC State’s Friday Institute. After graduation, Solteria will be joining Lockheed Martin Space as a Systems Engineer within their Deep Space Exploration Advanced Programs. 

Lindsey Jacobson – Leadership

Lindsey is currently a senior at North Carolina State University studying aerospace engineering with a minor in industrial engineering. She is interested in engineering design methodology, design under uncertainty, system evolution and redesign, human aspects of design and STEM outreach.

She is an undergraduate research assistant in the System Design Optimization Lab, as well as a University Honors and Scholars Program Ambassador at NC State. She serves as the Vice President of the NC Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi and works as the Payload Integration Lead with MAE’s High-Powered Rocketry Team. Additionally, Lindsey was recognized as a 2021 USRA Distinguished Undergraduate and has also been award the 2022 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. 

Lindsey previously had two internships at NASA Headquarters working on systems engineering and risk management for the James Webb Space Telescope Program, and next year, she will return to NC State as a PhD student in aerospace engineering. 

Andrew Mistele – Scholarly Achievement

Andrew is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, and he is interested in unmanned aircraft systems and their military applications, as well as high-speed aerodynamics.

He conducts research under Dr. Ashok Gopalarathnam in the Applied Aerodynamics Group at NC State in aerodynamic numerical modeling and simulation, and has published two research papers as first author associated with this work. He has received multiple research awards from the MAE as well as NC State’s Office of Undergraduate Research. Andrew was a member of NC State’s chapter of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and worked on the chapter’s Design-Build-Fly team his junior and senior years. He also founded and ran for 3 years NC State’s chapter of the Thomistic Institute, an academic institute dedicated to theology. Additionally, He is a 2021 Barry Goldwater Scholar

Andrew has worked four internships with Northrop Grumman in quality engineering, aerodynamics, flight test analysis, and aircraft performance. After graduation, he will be moving to San Diego, California to work for Northrop Grumman full-time.

Jack Martinez – Humanities

Jack is a Mechanical Engineering and Spanish double-major from Raleigh, North Carolina. He participated in undergraduate research with the ARoS Lab and Independent Research on Queer Lexicon in North Carolina Spanish with Dr. Rebecca Ronquest.

He is involved on campus as President of the Spanish Club, a Caldwell Fellow, a Cycling Team member, and a potter at the NC State Crafts Center. He has also volunteered with website development for the Center for Human-Earth Restoration, Shack-a-thon, and the Critical Conversations Project.

He previously worked as a research and development intern for the ABB Multiphysics Research and Development Lab at NC State, researching heavy lift drone power systems and electric conveyor belt motor applications. He is interested in product and systems design and development, social design, and has committed to a Master’s Degree program in Industrial Design.

This post was originally published in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.