Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, recently named its 271 scholars for the 2017-18 academic year. This year, 10 scholars are Brigham Young University students.
Winners receive $2,000 for a full year or $1,000 for a semester to assist their engineering studies. Recipients are chosen from among members of the society who are selected as the top engineering students in the country. Of the BYU recipients, five are chemical engineers, four are mechanical engineers, and one is an electrical engineer. BYU has enjoyed tremendous success in previous years, earning 18 of 210 scholarships in 2016, 19 of 264 scholarships in 2015, 25 of 242 scholarships in 2014, and 18 of 210 scholarships in 2013.
Also, Patrick J. Fisher, a student studying civil engineering at BYU-Idaho, received a scholarship for 2017 and is the first scholarship winner ever at BYU-Idaho. BYU-Idaho is home to the newest (253rd) Tau Beta Pi chapter, Idaho Delta, installed on March 4, 2017.
Tau Beta Pi was founded at Lehigh University in 1885 and is the world’s largest engineering honor society. It has collegiate chapters at 246 engineering colleges in the United States and active alumni chapters in 41 cities. It has initiated more than 583,000 members in its 132-year history. To be inducted, undergraduate students must be in the top eighth of their engineering class their junior year or in the top fifth their senior year. They are then considered on “the basis of personal integrity, breadth of interest both inside and outside engineering, adaptability, and unselfish activity,” according to the national society's website.
The following BYU students are 2017-2018 Tau Beta Pi Scholars:
Chemical Engineering
Neal D. Gaffin
Jeremy D. Hardy
Damon J. Petersen
Samuel D. Thorpe
Logan S. White
Electrical Engineering
Joshua S. McClellan
Mechanical Engineering
Dillon J. Despain
Jacob W. Garner
Brett Dagan Pielstick
Alex W. Whittier