The Department of Applied Computing/CMH Division awarded Class of 2020 undergraduate
awards to the following Computer Network and System Administration (CNSA) and Electrical Engineering
Technology (EET) graduates:
Outstanding CNSA Graduate Award: Michael Dabish For exceptional performance as a research and laboratory assistant. Michael’s work in the lab has provided an excellent lab environment for students.
Always willing to put in the work necessary to get the job done, in 2018, Michael
became a research/ teaching assistant, working with CNSA faculty on two NSA grants
to create and update cyber ethics and cybersecurity course content. He collaborates
with CNSA faculty and students to find new ways to implement popular technologies
in system administration and security, even creating a YouTube channel to document
and share methods of implementing these technologies. Michael is pursuing graduate
school in the hope of becoming a teacher right here at Michigan Tech.
Outstanding EET Graduate Award: Emma Davidson For exceptional service as a laboratory assistant and grader. Emma has been helping faculty and students in the lab for over three years, and she
also helped with "texting day" to reach out to prospective students.
Outstanding EET Graduate Award: Mark Heinonen For an exceptional Senior Design project in audio system design. Mark designed a 4-way passive electrical circuit specifically tuned for a pair of
loudspeakers he created as part of his Audio Production and Technology degree. He
started out with a design based on the latest in digital signal processing, but in
the end he discovered the value in “old school” analog electrical circuits built from
resistors, capacitors, and inductors - what used to be considered mainstream electrical
engineering but is now something of a lost art.
Outstanding CNSA Graduate Award: Bernard Kluskens For exceptional performance as a teaching assistant. Bernard was teaching assistant for four classes taught by Todd Arney, who nominated
Bernard for this award. Arney says Bernard took the lead on answering lab questions,
and arranged calendar appointment slots for students seeking one-on-one help through Zoom.
Arney says he would not have been able to manage his classes without Bernard's help
with grading, fielding questions, and reviewing material before posting to Canvas.
Outstanding EET Graduate Award: Spencer Thompson For exceptional service as a teaching assistant in the transition to remote instruction. Spencer has been lab assistant for most, if not all of the EET labs. New faculty member
Jungyun Bae pointed out his dedication to helping students in the EET Data Acquisition
course. Spencer actively helped the students during lab hours through emails and Zoom
meetings, taking videos of all the labs remaining in the semester when instruction
was transferred online and, thanks to him, the course went smoothly.
Outstanding CNSA Graduate Award: Gary Tropp For excellent student academic mentoring in the College of Computing Learning Center. Gary is the first CNSA student to work as a "Student Academic Mentor" (SAM) in the
new "College of Computing Learning Center" (CCLC), offering in person one-on-one help
with two of the lab intensive classes in the CNSA program and then even continuing
to offer online personalized help for students.
All CMH Division Achievement Award Winners
Michael Dabish : Outstanding CNSA Graduate Award for exceptional performance as a research and laboratory
assistant. Bernard Klusken : Outstanding CNSA Graduate Award for exceptional performance as a teaching assistant.Gary Tropp : Outstanding CNSA Graduate Award, for excellent student academic mentoring in the
College of Computing Learning Center.Emma Davidson : Outstanding EET Graduate Award for exceptional service as a laboratory assistant
and grader.Mark Heinonen : Outstanding EET Graduate Award for an exceptional Senior Design project in audio
system design.Spencer Thompson : Outstanding EET Graduate Award for exceptional service as a teaching assistant in
the transition to remote instruction.