4/8/2013 Written by Susan Mumm
Written by Written by Susan Mumm
AE Senior Joseph Gonzalez was among 10 College of Engineering students knighted during the Knights of St. Pat Ball on Saturday, March 13.
In addition to being knighted, Gonzalez pleased Ball attendees by announcing that he had chosen the AE Department at Illinois for graduate school following graduation. His friends rewarded him with an Illini hat and jersey presented “draft day” style.
To be a Knight of St. Pat is the highest honor an undergraduate student can receive in the College of Engineering at Illinois. A Knight of St. Pat demonstrates leadership, academic excellence, and exceptional contributions to the College and its students. A committee of previous years’ knights selects each new year’s class. The 2010 event was particularly significant in that it was the 60th anniversary reunion of the Knights.
This adds to a list of several honors that have been bestowed upon the southside-Chicago, Ill., native over the past year.
In May 2009 Gonzalez was recognized with the College of Engineering Andrea J. Culumber Award, which carried a scholarship. The Culumber Award is in recognition of dedicated involvement in student activities in the College of Engineering, the campus, and the community and demonstrated ability as a future leader of people. In addition to that, the award is based on leadership skills as well as personal qualities, such as enthusiasm, creativity, and kindness.
Gonzalez also was recognized in May 2009 with the Dale Margerum Memorial Award through the AE Department. This award is presented annually to the AE undergraduate who exemplifies outstanding leadership qualities by participation in departmental extracurricular activities.
Last fall, Gonzalez, who currently serves as president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Champaign-Urbana student chapter, was recognized as the SHPE National Student Role Model of the Year at the society’s national conference. The Urbana chapter was named the Regional Chapter of the Year. Gonzalez also was a part of the SHPE|UIUC’s academic Olympiad team that took first place honors at the conference.
Gonzalez earlier had said his professional development began with joining Illinois’ student SHPE chapter, initially as a member of the Freshmen Roundtable. The following year, Gonzalez stepped up to become chairman for high school outreach and promoted higher education among minority youths. In this role, he reworked the visitation program to give incoming freshmen a real campus experience, which yielded a 100 percent attendance rate at Illinois for the participating students in the program. As external vice president, he nearly doubled company contacts and acquired more than $25,000 in sponsorships to send 51 members to the 2008 SHPE Conference.