Five impactful student organizations receive 2022 college awards

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Participating in more than 100 student organizations in the College of Engineering, Buckeye engineers are committed to improving communities on campus and around the globe, as well as providing peers with opportunities to practice new knowledge and skills in real-world situations. 

The Ohio State University College of Engineering recognized five student organizations for excellence in leadership, outreach and service at the eighth annual Student Organization Recognition & Awards ceremony in April.

“The college’s outstanding student organizations do important work to improve our communities near and far, introduce the next generation to the benefits of problem-solving engineering careers, and provide critical experiential learning opportunities for Ohio State students,” said David Tomasko, associate dean of undergraduate education and student services. “We’re proud to recognize their contributions and impact.”

ACM-W Overall
The Association of Computing Machinery Women’s Chapter (ACM-W) received the 2022 Outstanding Student Organization Award.

The 2022 winner of the highest honor, the Outstanding Student Organization Award, was the Ohio State Chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery Women’s Chapter (ACM-W) for their involvement, impact, large number of active members, diverse activities and communication of results. Along with the award, ACM-W received a $2,000 donation. The organization also received the Diversity Outreach Award and a $500 donation for their significant impact in increasing awareness of the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, including hosting a workshop on the importance of racial and gender diversity in engineering and a session on fighting misogyny in STEM and politics, presented in partnership with the Ohio State Chapter of IGNITE.

Four other organizations were honored for their efforts to better the Ohio community and beyond. Each of these awardees received a $500 donation to support future endeavors.

The Outstanding Community or University Service Award went to Engineers Without Borders Ohio State Chapter for its impact locally and across the globe. EWB’s current international projects include helping build an addition for a school in Carrera, Ecuador, and providing a sustainable agricultural water source in N’jau, Gambia. Locally, they are creating and implementing a bike-powered pump for harvesting water from barrels for a tree nursery, and designing a community garden. The team also received a $25,000 grant from the Ford Motor Company Fund to support their project to develop bilateral stimulation tappers for stress reduction or emotional management.

The Diversity and Inclusion Enhancement Award went to the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at Ohio State for their dedicated efforts to enhance diversity by collaborating with industry partners to host events, including celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Desi American heritage and hosting a panel discussion for LGBTQ + STEM. SWE also hosted He for SWE allies training. 

SWE also received the Distinctive Image Award for promoting a positive engineering spirit through their social media presence, monthly challenges for their members and leadership training activities.

The Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) at Ohio State won the Outstanding Partnership with Industry Award in recognition of their efforts to create meaningful partnerships with companies that contribute to their members’ professional development, including hosting networking events, speaker sessions and a healthcare-focused hackathon. BMES also presents the annual Engineering in Healthcare: Industry and Research Symposium, which connects companies and students from multiple BMES chapters to learn about the intersection of engineering and healthcare.

BMES also earned the People’s Choice Award—determined by live audience voting—and accompanying $500 donation.

In recognition of their efforts to host and run the first Ohio State Science Olympiad Invitational and engage students in STEM, Science Olympiad at The Ohio State University earned the 2022 K-12 Outreach Award.

Alexis Ortiz-Rosario, assistant professor-clinical of biomedical engineering, received the 2022 Outstanding Advisor Award for his leadership and guidance of the Biomedical Engineering Society at Ohio State.

The more than 100 student organizations in the College of Engineering include honoraries, project teams, diversity-related student organizations and graduate student organizations.