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Keely Eagleshield was officially appointed to the Larson Family Endowed Director of Wokini and Tribal Relations at �ձ�av��Ƶ on Dec. 8, 2025.

Fueled by a love for Legos and a fascination for how the body works, Edina, Minnesota, fifth-grader William O’Connell started writing research papers on how the eye functions and what causes an appendicitis. That was 2015. Ten years later, O’Connell is still writing research papers, though the words have gotten bigger and the topic more complex. The �ձ�av��Ƶ junior has a double major in human biology and mechanical engineering with a biomedical engineering minor with plans to graduate in May 2027. He also is a member of the fourth class of Future Innovators of America, which are chosen by the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering.

Civil engineering senior Alex Foley has put his own spin on the John F. Kennedy quote “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” Foley, who graduates in May, said, “You hear our administration talk about how �ձ�av��Ƶ can change you. My mindset was how can I leave an impact on the university itself.” In Foley’s 3 ½ years on the �ձ�av��Ƶ campus, he has certainly done that — and others have taken note. On Dec. 3, he was recognized as the recipient of the Inspirational Student Leadership Award in Civil Engineering, which was created in 2024.

Carie Green, �ձ�av��Ƶ's Profilet and DeJong Family Endowed Director of Early Childhood Education, designed a project to expand the experiences of early childhood and elementary education teacher candidates.

Nick Erickson, a senior electrical engineering major from Pierce, Nebraska, Erickson is the recipient of the major scholarship — the Center for Power Systems Studies Outstanding Senior Scholarship — a $5,000 award. Also,

Selections for the fourth class of Future Innovators of America Fellowships have been announced by the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering.  The eight recipients and the department which selected them are:  • Maxwell Donelan, mathematics and statistics  • Tennille Eremas and John Akujobi, both computer science • Keaton Ranslem, civil engineering • Connor Matthies and William O’Connell, both mechanical engineering • Eli Otten and Gabrielle Robbins, both construction and concrete industry management.

Alysha Kientopf, who received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural education from �ձ�av��Ƶ, has received the Region III Outstanding Agricultural Education Teacher Award from the National Association of Agricultural Educators.

Working alongside college classmates isn’t a common experience, but for three �ձ�av��Ƶ music education graduates, it’s become their everyday reality.

Turner Marr, a mechanical engineering senior from Buffalo, Minnesota, wanted to become a doctor when he enrolled at �ձ�av��Ƶ in fall 2022. That lasted all of one semester. The switch from biochemistry premed to mechanical engineering had nothing to do with the sight of blood or the thought of working on a cadaver. He simply wanted a major that required more math while allowing hands-on learning. He found that in mechanical engineering and in December 2024 was selected by the college as a Future Innovator of America.

This summer, Delaney Baumberger, a mechanical engineering graduate student at �ձ�av��Ƶ, spent ten weeks working among some of the nation’s top aerospace scientists at the Air Force Research Lab in Dayton, Ohio. Baumberger and her adviser, associate professor Jeffrey Doom, collaborated with Air Force Research Lab researchers to run advanced computational fluid dynamics simulations for hypersonic scramjet engines, experimental engines that burn fuel at speeds above Mach 5. Their work explored how engine geometry affects combustion stability and performance at extreme speeds. .