TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama College of Engineering named Thomas Saunders as UA’s 2003 engineering student of the year at the Engineering Council of Birmingham’s 45th annual awards banquet.

Saunders, an Alexander City native, is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and serves as president of UA’s chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Recently he was selected as one of 12 students chosen from across the nation to serve on the ASME Petroleum Division Student Council. He is currently designing a remote controlled device for the removal of land mines for ASME’s Student Design Competition. Last year he won second place in the ASME Regional Old Guard Poster Competition for a poster entitled “Boring Bar Design.”

Saunders received the 2003 department of mechanical engineering Outstanding Junior award, and he is a presidential scholar. He is also a member of several honor societies, including Pi Tau Sigma, Tau Beta Pi, Golden Key, Alpha Lambda Delta, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Phi Eta Sigma and Gamma Beta Phi.

College of Engineering departmental honors also include:

• Maria Accomando – chemical engineering department student of the year. She has served the Society of Women Engineers, as webmaster, and has served the American Institute of Chemical Engineers as engineering executive council representative. A Chalmette, La., native, Accomando has co-oped with Eastman Chemical Co. in Kingsport, Tenn., where she has done research in polymer coatings for plastic, with an emphasis on ductility and scratch resistance.
• Jonathan Grammer – civil and environmental engineering department student of the year. Grammer, a Tuscaloosa native, is the recipient of an alumni leadership scholarship and a member of Chi Epsilon honor society and the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is also an Ambassador for the College of Engineering. Grammer is co-owner of Grammer Excavating and Septic Systems, and he also has worked on an environmental research project for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. He completed internships with Brasfield & Gorrie, Cabaniss Engineering and the City of Northport engineering department.
• Nikki Hively – industrial engineering department student of the year. A native of Athens, Ala., Hively is president of Alpha Pi Mu honor society and vice president of Tau Beta Pi. She has co-oped with Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems, and her work has included lean material movement systems for paperless scheduling. Hively has also written a proposal to distribute the workload of five restricted employees to other underutilized workers.
• Michael P. LeJeune – electrical and computer engineering department student of the year. LeJeune serves as historian for the ACEs, and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. A native of Prairieville, La., LeJeune is president of Eta Kappa Nu honor society, a member of Tau Beta Pi, and a presidential scholar. He has co-oped with BellSouth in Birmingham and Winston-Salem, N.C., and has worked on projects to make DSL technology available to more customers.

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.