May 2014

NSPE TODAY
College ‘New Face’ Continues Family Tradition

Northern Illinois University mechanical engineering major Joshua Ott has been selected as NSPE’s representative to the 2014 New Faces of Engineering: College Edition.

The fourth-year student is very active with the school’s Engineers Without Borders chapter, currently serving as treasurer and having previously served as both president and project manager.

Ott led a team of students in the design and development for a project that brought solar energy to a school in Tanzania and trained locals in operation and maintenance. “I was able to take my engineering skills to developing countries and the people that really need them,” Ott wrote in his award application. His duties as president included maintaining professional relationships with local businesses and Northern Illinois University. In his current position as treasurer, Ott tracks funds for the chapter’s two projects.

Each year, 15 engineering societies choose a College Edition representative based on academic achievement (students must have a GPA above 3.0 to qualify), leadership in student organizations, community service, and involvement with the profession. DiscoverE runs the program to highlight the future of engineering and hosts a Facebook page where engineering students can network and discuss ideas. The page has received over 7,500 likes to date.

Ott says “that through engineering, you will learn how everything in the modern world actually works, what it took to make it work, and how it is really affecting your life.” His passion for the profession came from both of his grandfathers as well as his father, who were all engineers and inventors. “Throughout my youth, I was blessed with the opportunity to learn from them and was inspired by their ingenuity and knowledge,” he wrote on his application. “I knew I wanted to have those skills too, so I became an engineer.”

Visit www.facebook.com/collegeedition to see this year’s 15 representatives.