Princeton University honored three engineering students with two of its top prizes for work in the sophomore and junior years at Opening Exercises on Sunday, Sept. 11.
“We are proud of this year’s prize winners and pleased to celebrate their commitment to their academics and to the Princeton community,” Dean of the College Jill Dolan said. “Along with achieving high grade point averages, these distinguished students dedicate themselves to activities that reach all corners of the campus and beyond. They study internationally, belong to campus clubs, undertake competitive internships and important service work, and maintain artistic practices. I wish them the warmest of congratulations.”
George B. Wood Legacy Sophomore Prize
This year’s George B. Wood Legacy Sophomore Prize is shared by Hans Hanley and Prem Nair. The prize is given to members of the junior class in recognition of exceptional academic achievement during sophomore year.
Hanley, of Windermere, Florida, attended Montverde Academy. Hanley is an electrical engineering major pursuing a certificate in applications of computing. He received the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence in 2015.
Hanley spent this past summer as a Google software engineering intern and he spent the previous summer participating in a National Science Foundation summer research program at Texas Tech University. He also is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. His research interest is in cybersecurity.
A member of Whitman College, Hanley is a peer tutor at the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, mentors high school students through the Pace Center for Civic Engagement’s Princeton College Counseling Project, and has served as an undergraduate course assistant for the electrical engineering course “Contemporary Logic Design.”
Nair is from Cupertino, California, and attended Monta Vista High School. He is a computer science major. He received the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence in 2015 and he spent this past summer as a Google software engineering intern.
On campus, Nair is a member of Mathey College and Charter Club. He is co-president of the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club and helped organize HackPrinceton events. He also was co-director for the TigerLaunch national collegiate entrepreneurship competition. His primary research interests are in advancing artificial intelligence and emerging technologies that have the potential to improve people’s lives.
Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award
Lydia Liu received the Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award, which is awarded each year to the undergraduate who, at the end of junior year, has achieved the highest academic standing for all preceding college work at the University.
Liu is from Singapore and attended Raffles Institution. She is an operations research and financial engineering major. She also is pursuing certificates in applied and computational mathematics, applications of computing, and statistics and machine learning.
She received the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence in her first and sophomore years, as well as the Freshman First Honor Prize and the George B. Wood Legacy Sophomore Prize. She also received the Department of English’s Bain-Swigget Poetry Prize.
A member of Forbes College, Liu is mentorship chair for Princeton Women in Computer Science and director of projects for the Princeton University Language Project. She is a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and she helps give tours of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Liu also is a member of the William Trego Singers and has served as a translator for the student-run Princeton Chinese Theater.
Liu was an intern at Microsoft Research Lab in Cambridge, United Kingdom, this past summer. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in machine learning.
Also during the ceremony, the University awarded the Freshman First Honor Prize to Bendeguz Offertaler and Matthew Tyler. The prize is awarded each year to sophomores in recognition of exceptional achievement during their first year. Aslihan Asil, and economics major, and Marisa Salazar, a chemistry major, shared this year’s George B. Wood Legacy Junior Prize is given to members of the senior class in recognition of exceptional academic achievement during junior year.
This article adapted from News at Princeton.
