The Alton B. Zerby and Carl T. Koerner Outstanding Student Award recognizes
outstanding scholastic excellence and high moral character, coupled with demonstrated exemplary service to classmates, university, community, and country. This program is administered by the Los Angeles Area alumni chapter.
Prize: US$1,000 and plaque
Among the objectives that IEEE-HKN hopes to achieve through this award program are:
This award is presented during the Annual Meeting of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA), held in March each year. Reasonable travel expenses for the winner are paid for by IEEE-HKN, and a US$1,000 award honorarium and engraved plaque are presented.
Picture: 2014 Outstanding Student Award Recipient Tammy Chang with IEEE-HKN President John Orr.
The outstanding student may be described as “outstanding by virtue of scholastic excellence and high moral character, coupled with demonstrated exemplary contributions to classmates, school, and community.”
The nomination of an individual shall only be by an undergraduate IEEE-HKN chapter, and only one nomination per year by that chapter will be allowed. The nominee must be a full-time student in his or her senior year receiving his or her first undergraduate degree in that academic year (1 September through 31 August). The nominee need not be a member of IEEE-HKN or attend the chapter’s school. However, the nominee must be enrolled at a school with an accredited curriculum in electrical or computer engineering.
All applications must be received by 30 June of each year. Material received after that date will not be considered.
The nomination must be made using the OSA Nomination Form. The nominee’s resume should be included with the completed form along with a recent portrait-style photo.
The nominating Chapter’s president (or vice president if the nominee is the president) and Faculty Adviser, as well as the Department Head of the nominating Chapter’s school, must approve the nomination. The nominee’s ranking or percentile position within his or her class must also be included (as colleges grade inconsistently). If this information is not available to the Chapter’s officers, then the Faculty Adviser or Department Head should include this data in his or her private letter of recommendation to the award committee.
A current transcript is also required (uncertified is acceptable).
Two letters of recommendation (three maximum), giving reasons why the authors consider the nominee to be an outstanding student, may be submitted. Following is a list of suggested authors:
These letters may be mailed directly to the OSA Award Committee by the authors or attached to the nomination package.
Mail to:
Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Student Award Chair
John DeGraw
26492 Aveinida Veronica
Mission Viejo, CA 92691 USA
+1 714 606 6722
The OSA award committee will screen all of the nominations and select approximately ten candidates for consideration by a Jury of Award comprising several prominent electrical engineers representing both industry and academia.
All those submitting a Nomination Form will be notified of their nominee’s status by the committee chair immediately following the committee’s screening process.
The candidates’ nomination dossiers and letters of recommendation will then be submitted to the Jury of Award for their independent and individual consideration. The award committee tabulates the jury’s rank-order ballots. In addition to a winner, one or more honorable mentions may be selected with no relative rank indicated.
Those not selected by the Jury as the winner or an honorable mention will be declared finalists with no relative rank indicated. The winner, honorable mentions, and finalists will be named in the Awards Program. The names of those on the Jury of Award remain confidential until the selection process is completed but will also be named in the Awards Program.
Selection Committee:
Begun in 1965, this award has become a traditional means of providing recognition to deserving electrical and computer engineering students. In 1975, the name was changed to the “Alton B. Zerby Outstanding Electrical Engineering Student Award” to honor and perpetuate the memory of Alton B. Zerby, a long-time leader and executive secretary of Eta Kappa Nu. In 1993, the name was further changed to include Carl T. Koerner to honor and perpetuate the memory of Mr. Koerner, an HKN member who had a lifelong dedication to Eta Kappa Nu, including serving as its president. Mr. Koerner was the fifth recipient of the prestigious HKN Distinguished Service Award (1975) in recognition of his contributions to the field of electrical engineering and to Eta Kappa Nu.
Past Award Winners
2024: Gavin Halford, Lambda Zeta, University of North Texas
2023: Joseph Asfouri, Theta Rho, Rice University
2022: Ashley Kuhlney, Lambda Beta, California State University Northridge
2021: Frank Yuan-Shaw Yang
2020: Alvaro Sahagun, Iota Lambda, University of Illinois, at Chicago
2019: Olivia Hsu, Mu, University of California, Berkeley
2018: Ramandeep Vilkhu, Gamma, Ohio State University
2017: Katelyn Brinker, Gamma Theta, Missouri University of Science and Technology and James Smith, Xi Chapter, Auburn University
2016: Emily Hernandez, Gamma Theta Chapter, Missouri University of Science and Technology
2015: Sara Kouroupis, Xi Chapter, Auburn University
2014: Chelsea Finn, Beta Theta Chapter, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2013: Tammy Chang, Iota Gamma Chapter, University of California Los Angles
2012: Larry K. Martin, Delta Omega Chapter, University of Hawaii, Manoa
2011: Kathryn Rodhouse, Gamma Theta Chapter, Missouri University of Science
and Technology
2010: George Chen, Mu Chapter, University of California, Berkeley
2009: Matthew D. Young, University of Rhode Island
2008: Charles A. Gammal, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
2007: Priyanth Chandresekar, University of Maine
2006: Benjamin R. Moss, University of Missouri — Rolla
2005: Blaine Murakami, University of Hawaii
2004: Matthew R. Behrend, University of Southern California, and Matthew C.
Rodrigue, University of Maine
2003: Aaron T. Ohta, University of Hawaii – Manoa
2002: Shadab N. Mozaffar, University of Kansas
2001: Kendall S. Ching, University of Hawaii – Manoa, and William F. Thies, MIT
2000: Wesley J. Bolsen, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
1999: Raymond Wang, University of California – Berkeley
1998: Jeffry T. Ross, Northeastern University
1997: Louis R. Litwin, Jr., Drexel University
1996: Jovan D. Milosavljevic, State University of New York – Stony Brook
1995: Andrew L. Sears, University of Missouri – Rolla
1994: Lillian Chiamin Ho, University of Texas – Austin
1993: Brad D. Marshall, Kansas State University
1992: Paul D. Anderson, Tennessee Technological University
1991: Geoffrey W. Burr, State University of New York – Buffalo
1990: Ashok Kumar, University of Washington
1989: Patrick S. Kennedy, Milwaukee School of Engineering
1988: Emy Tan, University of Illinois – Urbana
1987: Lonnie D. Chrisman, UC – Berkeley, and Penny M. Gilbertson, MT State
University
1986: Charles A. Bier, Rice University, and Dick P. Welch, University of Illinois –
Urbana
1985: Yvonne M. Utzig, California State Poly-Pomona
1984: Michael J. Hargraves, Ohio University
1983: Steve E. Watkins, University of Missouri – Rolla
1982: Richard L. Goodson, University of Alabama
1981: Gary L. Sonnier, University of Southwestern Louisiana
1980: Mark David Vanstrum, Auburn University
1979: Max W. Hauser, UC – Berkeley, and Louise A. Veilleaux, University of
Maine
1978: Douglas R. Kraul, Georgia Institute of Technology
1977: David D. Welter, University of New Mexico
1976: Allen D. Elster, Vanderbilt University
1975: William P. Mumford, III, Oregon State University
1974: Steven R. Brammer, University of Texas – Arlington
1973: John B. Gordon, University of Texas – Austin
1972: Noel H. Runyan, University of New Mexico
1971: Alan M. Usas, Princeton University
1970: Robert W. Alford, University of Texas – Arlington
1969: Thomas L. Niemeyer, Ohio State University
1968: Donald Alan Hanson, University of Illinois – Urbana
1967: Douglas F. Johnstone, Purdue University
1966: Thomas L. Thomas, Ohio State University
1965: Carl Anthony Cooper, University of Southern California
