5/9/2011
As with many engineering students who are graduating at the top of their class, Andrew Naber’s schooling won’t end with his undergraduate classes. But for Naber, a recently commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, his future schooling will look quite different than for his peers who are headed to graduate school.
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As with many engineering students who are graduating at the top of their class, Andrew Naber’s schooling won’t end with his undergraduate classes. But for Naber, a recently commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, his future schooling will look quite different than for his peers who are headed to graduate school.
“The University of Illinois is really good for academics, but you can’t get better leadership training anywhere else than compared to the military,” Naber said. “I thought I would round myself out better with a few years in the military and being an officer.”
Naber, who completed his undergraduate coursework last December, has spent this past semester researching automatic region tracking and MRI images with Professor Brad Sutton. The Bronze Tablet student leaves the University of Illinois with a degree in bioengineering, minors in German and Chemistry and a 4.0 GPA.
This past month, Naber was awarded the Harvey H. Jordan Award, given annually to the College of Engineering’s top graduating senior.
“It was really exciting that I got to give a speech in front of distinguished alumni about engineering,” Naber said.
The award comes after a college career full of accomplishments and achievements.
As part of his Senior Design Project, Naber co-founded Citus Medical, Inc. The start-up company looked to provide diagnostic solutions for rural and developing countries through low-cost, single-use blood panels and affordable automated analysis devices.
“There is no better way to learn about business in engineering than to dive in and start your own company,” Naber said. “It was a great learning experience.”
Naber’s company and products garnered several awards and grants, and during the entrepreneurial process, he attended conferences and competitions such as the Technology Entrepreneur Center Seminar in Silicon Valley, California, as well as the TEC Idea to Product Competition – where Citus Medical won first place.
With his undergraduate research in Professor Sutton’s Magnetic Resonance Functional Imaging Lab, Naber has assisted in the development of automated image segmentation techniques, active contouring and motion tracking for magnetic resonance imaging. He hopes to publish a paper before he leaves for the Marines.
Naber’s younger brother, Jonathon, is also a senior, studying material science and engineering. He is a winner of the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Illinois Student Prize and the Clinton Global Initiative Grant for his work in creating Illini Prosthetic Technologies, which produces affordable prosthetic body parts for underdeveloped countries.
“Growing up, there was a strong emphasis on math and science from our parents,” Naber said. “I think growing up in the middle of nowhere helped, too. You have to learn to be self-reliant.”
Naber said he is not sure what he will pursue once his service with the Marine Corps comes to an end, but he is eager to apply the leadership skills he expects to gain from the Marines with his engineering education from the University of Illinois.
“I learn the most by taking my education into my own hands, and I think the strength of the engineering department is that they have allowed me to do that,” Naber said. “The engineering curriculum gave me a diving board to dive into other topics, and this has really contributed to my education.”
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Writer: Jay Lee, Enginering Communications Office.
If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.