Three of five recipients of the College of Engineering Dean’s Student Leadership Award are current students and a graduate of the ISU Chemical and Biological Engineering program. Rebecca Harmon, Eli Reiser and Erika Vaassen have been honored in a recent ceremony.
The award recognizes outstanding leadership by undergraduate engineering students in their junior or senior years. It is presented to students who have been nominated for their exemplary leadership in a broader arena than a single department of student organization; and where awardees have demonstrated outstanding leadership in one or more major college-wide, university, community, or professional organizations.
Rebecca Harmon, a CBE junior from Crystal Lake, IL, worked with Engineering Student Council, serving as president of Freshman Leaders in Engineering. She then took on the role of vice president of outreach for the ESC, and more recently served as the regional conference coordinator. In the upcoming year, Rebecca will serve as Vice President of Conferences for the National Association of Engineering Student Councils. In addition to her leadership activities within the ESC, she is also an active member of the Society of Women Engineers, Tau Beta Pi, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Eli Reiser of Petersburg, IL, is a graduating senior in CBE with an emphasis on biomedical and biochemical applications. In his time at Iowa State, Eli has been extensively involved in leadership roles in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) student organizations. In AIChE he has served as the corporate representative and has completed two terms as the president of the organization, which showed significant growth in both membership and events. His nomination particularly noted his important leadership during the chemical engineering department’s centennial celebration in 2013. Through recognition of his outstanding work at the local level, he was elected to the AIChE Executive Student Committee, taking on the role of the membership chair of the International AIChE committee supporting student chapters worldwide.
Erika Vaassen, from Indianola, IA, obtained a B.S. in chemical engineering in December, 2015. In her time at Iowa State Erika held a number of important leadership posts, serving as Co-President of Engineers’ Week; VEISHEA Parade Co-Chair; a Peer Mentor for Leadership ISU and Women in Science and Engineering; and Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Ames YWCA. She was also involved on campus in Engineers Without Borders, where she founded the Freshmen Leadership Board. In 2014, she was also honored as one of 12 women recognized on the Women Impacting Iowa State calendar through the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics. She also had the opportunity to study abroad in Istanbul, Turkey. Erika lives in Dalton, Georgia, where she works as a production management engineer with Cargill Industrial Specialties.
CBE congratulates these awardees and extends its thanks for their significant contributions to the department and to fellow students.
All of the Dean’s Student Leadership Award recipients are highlighted and pictured in a story in College of Engineering News here.
