TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - University of Alabama College of Engineering graduate student Shunta Garrett, of Springville, recently received the Alcoa Foundation Scholars grant.

Garrett received the $1,000 award at the National Society of Black Engineers conference in Anaheim, Calif., in March. Garrett is one of only nine people in the nation to receive this prestigious award.

Garrett completed a bachelor of science in industrial engineering from UA in 2002 and is now working on a master’s degree in industrial engineering.

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 90 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.