10/7/2009
Joseph Gonzalez, a senior in aerospace engineering and current president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), was selected as this year's SHPE National Student Role Model of the Year.
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Joseph Gonzalez, a senior in aerospace engineering and current president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), was selected as this year's SHPE National Student Role Model of the Year.
As a student role model, Gonzalez has demonstrated passion for academic excellence, social responsibility and technical interests while at the University of Illinois.
“Receiving this great honor acknowledges the sacrifice and passion that my peers, faculty and family have invested in molding me into the person I am today,” Gonzalez said. “It feels great to be recognized as a role model, and it won’t stop there. I will continue giving back to the community, inspiring others and promoting the development of underrepresented students.
The Student Role Model Award (STAR) is the highest award given by the Society to a SHPE Student member. This award recognizes the unselfish and outstanding contributions of an honoree to their SHPE student chapter and the Hispanic community while also maintaining academic excellence. The recipient, as an active SHPE member, brings honor and esteem to the Society through academic achievement, community service, and leadership.
“When I entered the University of Illinois, I was like many other Hispanic students – somewhat unprepared and with little knowledge of what the engineering field required,” Gonzalez added. As a freshman he played saxophone in the concert band and was an outfielder for the club baseball team. He soon adjusted priorities to focus on academic and leadership opportunities.
His professional development began with joining SHPE|UIUC, initially as a member of the Freshmen Roundtable. The following year, Gonzalez stepped up to become chairman for high school outreach and promote higher education among minority youths. In this role, he reworked the visitation program to give incoming freshmen a real campus experience, which yielded a 100% attendance rate at Illinois for the participating students in the program. During his most recent term as external vice president, he nearly doubled company contacts and acquired more than $25,000 in sponsorship allowing the chapter to send 51 members to the 2008 SHPE Conference.
In 2008, Gonzalez’s technical interests led him to join the “Floatin’ Illini” research team, where he explored the potential for studying Venus Flytrap behavior in microgravity conditions and proposed a flame propagation testing method. Earlier this year he conducted research on the effects of inhomogeneities on the fracture of polyethylene.
John Lambros, professor and advisor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, doesn’t usually accept juniors into this program, but in this case, he made an exception.
“Joseph’s clear dedication to the subject of mechanics, his excellent performance in advanced classes, and his desire for further studies made me agree to take him on as an undergraduate research for the spring 2009 semester,” Lambros noted. Under the auspices of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, Gonzalez continued the research during the summer of 2009.
Overall, Gonzalez held nearly a 3.9 GPA as a junior, usually the toughest year of the aerospace engineering program. Upon graduation, he plans to pursue a master’s degree with the ultimate goal of working for NASA as a mission engineer.
“SHPE is proud to honor these individuals and corporations for their exceptional achievement in our field,” said Manny Hernández, national president of SHPE. “Each STAR award recipient embodies the caliber of quality Hispanic engineer and technical talent that SHPE strives to represent. It is our hope that future generations will look to these honorees as shining examples of Hispanic talent in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.” The Student Role Model Award will be presented during the 2009 SHPE Conference in Washington, D.C. from Oct. 28-Nov. 1. The SHPE Conference is the largest Hispanic technical conference in the nation, with approximately 5,000 attendees expected.
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