Top engineering student recognized with Harvey Jordan Award

A careful balance is needed to manage high academic achievement with heavy extracurricular involvement--a feat best exemplified by Luke Zaczek’s undergraduate years at the University of Illinois.

Now a senior in mechanical science and engineering, Zaczek's achievements both in and outside the classroom were formally recognized last weekend when he received the 2012 Harvey H. Jordan Award which is presented to one outstanding senior as the top student in the College of Engineering each spring.

“There’s a lot of great students here at a really great school,” Zaczek said. “Even when I was told I was being considered, I was thrilled. When they told me I had won, I was just absolutely ecstatic.”

During his four years at Illinois, Zaczek has been active in the Dean’s Student Advisory Committee, Engineering Initiatives, Pi Tau Sigma Mechanical Engineering Honor Society, Jerry Sanders Design Competition Committee, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Habitat for Humanity, Engineering Freshman Society, and the Illini Classical Guitar Club--all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

“It’s been really great having put in a lot of hard work here these past few years, and this was able to recognize that,” he added. “It has all been a really great experience.”

The winner of the Jordan Award is also a featured speaker at the Engineering Student and Alumni Awards Ceremony, and Zaczek was able to address faculty, alumni, and fellow students this year.

“It’s difficult to try to talk about things that not only mechanical engineers will appreciate, but all engineers, and try to encompass the whole experience as a University of Illinois student,” Zaczek said. “Not just the academic side as a student working on tests and projects all the time, but also meeting all these great students and faculty. I just wanted to talk about how, the more you get involved with your schoolwork, the more people you meet and the more you’ll have to do outside of your schoolwork.”

Zaczek said his heavy extracurricular involvement has been a great supplement to his academic engineering studies.

“That has been one of the most valuable things I’ve done here,” Zaczek said about his extracurricular involvement. “It’s great to go to all your classes and do all your work there, but there’s a whole different set of skills you pick up by being involved in these student organizations. You learn a lot more about time management, how to work with other people and how to lead.”

And though the engineering courseload itself can be difficult for many, Zaczek found that he was able to achieve extraordinary academic success in the midst of various extracurricular obligations thanks to the many social connections he has made in both classes and in student organizations.

“It’s a lot of time and it’s a lot of late hours,” Zaczek said. “But at the same time, a lot of these things you are working on, you are working with and talking to other people the whole time. It’s not as bad as it could be thanks to the social involvement, and it’s about setting up your priorities and then making sure it happens.”

This culminated in the spring of his junior year when he spent a semester studying abroad in Valencia, Spain, which he called “an amazing experience.”

“It’s the one thing I would recommend to all students, to do a study abroad,” he noted. “It was absolutely amazing for me. I got to meet students from all across the world, and I got to practice my Spanish skills.”

Zaczek said spending extended time abroad is especially valuable for engineering students who will eventually work in a globally connected industry.

“Studying abroad allows you to become more social and more open, more understanding of the global dynamics of things. Engineering is such a multicultural, global profession these days, you really need to have an understanding of how different cultures operate and be sensitive to that.”

After returning from Spain, Zaczek has been active with the University of Illinois’ Intensive English Institute. This semester, he has been serving as a volunteer mentor to a visiting student from Columbia.

“There were students in Spain who had helped me with my Spanish skills when I was there, which I found really helpful, and also helping to immerse me in the culture in the area,” he said. “I thought it’d be really helpful for others for me to able to do that here.”

After graduating in May, Zaczek will head to Stanford University to pursue a PhD in mechanical engineering.

“I’m just about as well prepared as I could be,” Zaczek stated. “The University of Illinois is one of the top engineering schools in the country, so I know my theoretical background and knowledge are going to up to par with anyone else I’m studying with.”
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Writer: Jay Lee, Engineering 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.