Engineering Students of the Year: Gruner, Houston, Barber

Engineering Students of the Year Honored: William Grüner, Kelly Shawn Houston, Tamara Barber

by George Zamora

SOCORRO, NM, March 2, 1999 -- New Mexico Tech has selected its "Engineering Student of the Year" and two runners-up.

William R. Grüner, an Edgewood native who is a recent graduate of New Mexico Tech, recently was named the research university's "Engineering Student of the Year."

Grüner, the son of Candy and Fred Grüner of Edgewood, was selected for the prestigious honor from a field of several top engineering students by an interdisciplinary committee of engineering professors at New Mexico Tech.

Grüner graduated this past December with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and currently is employed as a research scientist at Rio Grande Medical Technologies in Albuquerque. He is involved in diabetes research, specifically with developing systems of non-invasive glucose monitoring for diabetics.

For the past two years, Grüner has served as a student regent on the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents. As a student, Grüner also had been recognized throughout his undergraduate years as a New Mexico Tech scholar and had made the state-supported university's Honor roll several times.

He is a past president of Tech's Tau Beta Pi national engineering honor society, having also served as that organization's vice president and cataloguer. In addition, Grüner continues to be an active member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

As part of his senior design project, Grüner worked on developing a bio-compatible neural interface. In the recent past, he also has been actively involved in research projects involving robotics, opto-electronics, pulsed power, and treatments for cancer.

While at New Mexico Tech, Grüner also dedicated some of his time to working with the New Mexico State Science and Engineering Fair, New Mexico Science Olympiad, and several tutoring and peer-mentoring programs offered by the university.

In addition, he played an instrumental role in lobbying efforts for the New Mexico Tech Student Association and Associated Students of New Mexico organizations at past state legislative sessions in Santa Fe.

Grüner's recreational pursuits include soccer, fencing, drama, and ballroom dancing.

"New Mexico Tech has provided me with undergraduate opportunities that are far beyond what would have been available elsewhere," Grüner relates. "I could not have received a better undergraduate education."

Kelly Shawn Houston, a native of Trenton who is now a first-year graduate student seeking a master of science degree in environmental engineering at New Mexico Tech, recently was named the research university's "Engineering Student of the Year Runner-Up."

Houston, the son of Frank and Shirley Houston of Trenton, was selected for the prestigious honor from a field of several top engineering students by an interdisciplinary committee of engineering professors at New Mexico Tech.

He first came to New Mexico Tech on a Transfer Excel Scholarship and currently attends the university on a Associated Western Universities Graduate Fellowship.

Houston's undergraduate research work in environmental engineering at New Mexico Tech resulted in a project entitled "Catalysis of Soil Minerals on Chromium (VI) Reduction by Organic Compounds and Its Application for Contaminated Site Remediation." He presented a paper on that research to the American Geophysical Union at the organization's 1988 fall conference in San Francisco, Calif.

As a graduate student, Houston currently is working with Idaho Engineering and Environmental Laboratories to develop high-performance polyphosphazene membrane materials.

"New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology is a small, research-oriented school, thereby giving me the opportunity to experience many aspects of the environmental engineering field outside of the classroom, Houston relates.

He adds, "I liked my undergraduate experience here at Tech so much that I'm staying for a master's degree!"

Houston is a member of Tau Beta Pi, a national engineering honor society.

Tamara Barber, a native of Mountainair who is now a senior majoring in electrical engineering at New Mexico Tech, recently was named the research university's "Engineering Student of the Year Runner-Up."

Barber, a graduate of Mountainair High School, is the daughter of Brian and Miriam Barber of Mountainair.

She was selected for the prestigious honor from a field of several top engineering students by and interdisciplinary committee of engineering professors at New Mexico Tech. She currently attends New Mexico Tech on the Eden Romero Memorial Scholarship and maintains a 3.9 grade point average (GPA) out of a possible 4.0.

Barber's senior design project involves characterizing the antennae control unit for the world-famous Very Large Array radiotelescope, located on the Plains of San Agustin, nearly 50 miles west of Socorro. She also has contributed to the development of a land-mine detection robot, by providing the design, testing, wiring and documentation for the robot's joystick controller board.

Barber currently is employed as a paper grader for the robotics class being offered this semester at New Mexico Tech.

"The electrical engineering professors here at Tech are always willing to help," Barber says. "Clint Janes, Lou Serna, and Bob Broilo from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory also have put a tremendous effort into helping my project partner, Shawn Sharp, and myself complete our senior design project.

"We have an intricate network of personal attention and support at this university," she adds, "and that is the main advantage of going to school at New Mexico Tech.

Barber lists memberships in Tau Beta Pi national engineering honor society; the Society of Women Engineers; the International Test and Evaluation Association; and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).