Engineering Students Take First- and Second-Place Medals
University of Scranton students won first- and second-place medals in all three competitions that took place at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Student Activities Conference for a 14-state region and Washington D.C. Oct. 20-22.University of Scranton students earned first- and second-place finishes in all three competitions that took place at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Student Activities Conference for a 14-state region and Washington D.C. Hosted by Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, on the weekend of Oct. 20-22, the three competitions were the Sumo Bot event, the Hack-5K event and the Micro Mouse event.
In the Sumo Bot event, students are given a prebuilt bot and tasked with coding it to strategically push the other team’s bot out of the ring. The University of Scranton team won first place. Team members were (pictured from left): Matthew J. Felicia (captain), a computer engineering major from Medford, New Jersey; and Joseph J. Martini, an electrical engineering major from Freeport, New York; Robert D. Troy, an electrical engineering major from Dunmore; and Matthew K. Dittmar, an electrical engineering major from Easton.
In the Hack-5k event, students were given a handful of electronic components, and were asked to create an idea and demo for a product that would “push humanity forward.” University of Scranton graduate student Cuong Nguyen, Ashley, won first-place for his idea and demo. Nguyen, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering from the University in 2023, developed what he called “ColorVista,” which was an accessory for a device like an apple watch that could accurately determine the color of an object and display that color’s name. Nguyen is pursuing a master’s degree in software engineering at Scranton.
In the Micro Mouse event, teams were tasked with fully creating and coding small robots from scratch to be able to successfully complete a maze challenge. Scranton’s team won second place. Members were (pictured from left): Deanna Holbert, an engineering management major from Simpson; Gerard Piccini (captain), an electrical engineering major from Monroe Township, New Jersey; Carlton J. Hackett, a computer engineering major from Lansdale; and Eldridge G. Charway, a computer engineering major from Piscataway, New Jersey.
Other students participating in the competition were:
Robert C. Brudnicki, a computer engineering major from Archbald;
Christian D. Chakiris, a computer engineering major from Dickson City;
Ana M. Duque, a computer engineering major from Jamaica, New York;
Gabrina P. Garangmau, a mechanical engineering major from Scranton;
James R. Hankee, an electrical engineering major from Clarks Summit;
John A. Nelson, a computer engineering and philosophy double major from Jefferson, Maryland;
James W. O’Malley, a computer engineering major from Ambler;
Alexandros S. Papadopoulos, a computer engineering major from Scotrun;
Thomas J. Pisano, an electrical engineering major from Staten Island, New York;
Gabriel C. Pyra, an undeclared major from Bridgewater, New Jersey.
Faculty members W. Andrew Berger, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Engineering; Robert A. Spalletta, Ph.D., professor of physics and engineering; and Majid Mokhtari, senior lab engineer for physics and engineering; served as chaperones for the conference.
The Physics and Engineering Department’s IEEE Club is a student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world's largest technical professional organization. Undergraduate programs offered through the University’s Physics and Engineering Department are biophysics, computer engineering, electrical engineering, engineering management, mechanical engineering, physics and pre-engineering.
