Engineering Technology Students are Recipients of 2017 Phi Theta Kappa All New York Team Award
Queensborough students Myo Thu Ya Aung and Tao Hong, who will each graduate this spring with an A.S. degree in Engineering Technology, were both selected to receive the 2017 Phi Theta Kappa Association of New York Scholarship award in the amount of $1000.
Myo Thu Ya Aung, who carries a 3.87 G.P.A., is majoring in Civil Engineering. At Queensborough he engaged in undergraduate research in solar, geospace and atmospheric physics under the 2016 NASA research grant, “CUNY-NASA Solar and Atmospheric Research Program and Education Partnership (CUNY-NASA SOLARPREP)”. Queensborough is one of only four community colleges across the nation to receive the CUNY-NASA SOLARPREP award, which is designed to provide student training and expand course offerings in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) discipline.
Myo Thu Ya Aung will pursue his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His future plans are to establish his own construction firm then build affordable housing and an efficient public transportation system in the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar.
The second recipient, Tao Hong, maintains a 3.96 G.P.A. in his area of study, Engineering Science. His academic achievements include receiving the 2016 National Science Foundation-Undergraduate Research Experience in Nanoscience and Engineering at Vanderbilt University, where he conducted research in “Microfuidic Cell Co-Culture Platforms”. The program is highly competitive and there are only ten positions open nationwide in the program at Vanderbilt.
He will pursue his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University. Tao’s aspiration is to teach and conduct research about material science at the university level.
Last year, several Queensborough graduates were awarded Phi Theta Kappa scholarships: Yueli Chen, who is studying Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University; Yi (Jane) Jiang, who is continuing her studies in physics and chemistry at Queens College; and Vicki Chan, who has moved on to study Psychology at The School of Arts & Sciences at CUNY Hunter College. Former QCC graduates Ms. Paula Villacres, ‘13 and Ms. Mariyam Jalees, ‘11 won the scholarship in 2013 and 2011, respectively.
In order to qualify for the Phi Theta Kappa All New York Team, students must be Phi Theta Kappa members, carry a minimum 3.5 G.P.A., and have completed 12-36 semester hours.
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