BCoE students receive Spirit of State honors

Many Mississippi State students possess a special, can-do attitude. This appears especially prevalent among those in the Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE), as five engineering majors received recognition as 2009 Spirit of State award winners.

Since its establishment in 2006, Spirit of State awards have served as the university’s highest student service honors. The awards recognize individuals’ exceptional contributions to student life at Mississippi State including the areas of campus involvement, service to the university and impact to the campus community. Among this year’s 22 award recipients are BCoE representatives William Cleveland, Anna Goblirsch, Jenna Owen, Joel Russell, and Terrance West.

Cleveland is a senior double majoring in aerospace and computer engineering. A native of Gulfport, Miss., he is a member of numerous honor societies and currently serves as an officer in both MSU’s Tau Beta and Pi Phi Kappa Phi chapters. He is student chair of IEEE and was a member of the national champion Xipiter, unmanned aerial system team. In addition, he is a member of the Shackouls Honors College and engineering student councils and was recently inducted into the BCoE Student Hall of Fame.

A native of Elizabethtown, Ky., Goblirsch splits her time between being a senior biological engineering major and a defensive center on MSU’s soccer team. Despite those two demanding roles, she serves as president of the M-Club, a student athlete service organization, and is a member of the Federation of Christian Athletes and Tau Beta Pi. As a participant in Research Experience for Undergraduates, she has conducted research at Auburn University and MSU’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems.

As a freshman in industrial engineering, Owen has many accomplishments to her name. She is president of the Freshmen Engineering Student Council, as well as a BCoE ambassador and industrial and systems engineering representative. A native of Wiggins, Miss., she is also an active member of Tri Delta sorority and MSU Student Association.

Russell, a Jackson, Miss., native, is a senior in computer engineering. In his time at MSU, he has been active as a resident assistant, orientation leader and an engineering ambassador. He currently serves as an alumni delegate and a member of the Eta Kappa Nu honor society and Increasing Minority Access to Graduate Education (IMAGE). For the past four summers, he has been a Summer Bridge counselor, working to help high school students transition into successful college students.

A second-year doctoral student, West received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering from MSU. While working towards those degrees, he has been active in a variety of organizations. He has served as an IMAGE Summer Bridge counselor and president for the National Society of Black Engineers, while maintaining activity in internationally recognized research. He was a 2007 recipient of the university’s diversity award to recognize his continued work in mentoring minority students in the areas of mathematics and science. He is a native of Meridian, Miss.

The Division of Student Affairs presents the Spirit of State awards annually at a public ceremony. The recipients receive a customized gift to designate their achievement. More information about the award, including lists of all past winners, is available at www.saffairs.msstate.edu/spirit.

For more information about the Bagley College of Engineering visit www.bagley.msstate.edu. Further information about Mississippi State can be found on the university’s Web site www.msstate.edu.