Student Awards – Spring 2020

I walked onto campus not knowing how to even define the term engineering, yet here I am about to graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Applied Mathematics. I was born and raised in the state of Idaho, so I like to think I’ve bled blue from the start! Attending Boise State University has allowed me to stay close to my family, ride dirtbikes up in the mountains on the weekends, and continue to compete with my horses. During my junior year I was accepted into the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi, served as a member of the Mechanical Engineering Student Advisory Board, and also helped to reestablish the college’s Baja SAE team. I served as the BAJA Racing Club’s president ever since, and it’s been one of the highlights of my undergraduate career. I was also fortunate enough to work alongside the department chair and another professor as a research assistant to co-author a paper that was accepted for publication by ASEE that summarizes the creation of the new Mechanical Engineering Curriculum that will be implemented at BSU in the Fall of 2020. These past four years I have been privileged to learn from outstanding professors, and my college involvement has led to many lifelong friendships and unforgettable memories; I greatly value my time here at BSU and wouldn’t trade it for anything! Thank you to everyone who has made this journey so spectacular!

Growing up in a family of migrant farmworkers, Omar had to support his loved ones by working the fields while attending high school. His background as a farmworker, and sometimes being the sole provider of his family, has taught him the foundations of discipline, compassion and gave him the desire to help others like himself succeed academically.

This manifested through multiple opportunities as a peer educator for  TRIO Rising Scholars program at Boise State, where he tutored low-income and underrepresented students in courses ranging from pre-algebra and introductory engineering to Calculus III.

Omar also collaborated with local industry leaders and the Mechanical Engineering department as the elected president of Boise State University’s Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) to enhance the technical and professional skills within minority students. He co-designed and facilitated workshops about Python coding, resume building, and public speaking. He also co-organized tours to the Idaho National Laboratory and Hewlett Packard Headquarters so that students could talk to industry leaders first-hand to learn how to prepare for a successful career.

At Boise State, he was introduced to research and its benefits to humanity, and since then, he’s had multiple research experiences in both academic and industry settings. He now aspires to become a professor where he can combine his interests; teaching, mentoring, and research.

Omar attributes his successful time at Boise State to his research mentors, instructors and advisors who encouraged him to grow and support his desire to help others. Additionally, their help has led him to receive a fully funded PhD offer from UC Berkeley where he will be attending graduate school.

Coming to Boise State was the best decision I could have made four years ago. I have been able to serve as the President of the Society of Women Engineers, work as a Learning Assistant and mentor, sit on the Student Advisory Board for the MBE Department, join the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, work as a Peer Ambassador for the College of Engineering, and work as an Undergraduate Research Assistant. I’ve been able to involve myself in activities that both expanded on my technical skills learned in the classroom, while also building my professional, leadership, and interpersonal skills. My time at Boise State has really been characterized by the interactions I’ve had with the faculty and staff, who have, from the time I toured campus in high school, welcomed me to the Bronco community with their support. After graduation, I’m excited to extend my time as a Bronco by working on an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, anticipating to graduate in the Spring of 2021.

After I graduated high school, I went to attend University of Portland to play basketball and pursue a business degree. After one year, I found myself transferring to Boise State to play on their basketball team and changing my major to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. This ended up being the best change I ever made in my life.

I have always loved a challenge, and being a Division 1 collegiate athlete while pursuing a mechanical engineering degree proved to be one of the biggest challenges I would face, and also one of the most rewarding. I was lucky enough to be part of a basketball program that won 4 Mountain West Tournament Championships as well as 2 Regular Season Championships. I was challenged in the classroom with difficult concepts and courses that pushed me to be a better learner. I got to participate in the HERC Fellowship, conducting research with Dr. Pakala. I participated in job shadows and an internship that led to a job offer in the HVAC field. I am thrilled to have accepted that offer to start this fall back in Seattle as a Mechanical Engineer at Stantec, a global engineering design firm.

Over my 4 years in Boise, I met many mentors and created lifelong friendships from both athletics and academics. I am so thankful for all of the experiences and memories that I will take with me for the rest of my life. I want to thank my parents and my whole family for their constant support. Thank you to my coaches, professors, teammates, and classmates for such a special experience. As always, Go Broncos!

I came to Boise State from Nevada in the fall of 2015, and started out as a member of the Engineering Residential Community, where I learned how to function in college along with the opportunities that were available here. This proved to be a pivotal point, as that was where I learned about the field of Biomedical Engineering, which I would become interested in and eventually decide to make my career. The ERC was also my first encounter with engineering project work, group work, and what was in store for the next few years. During my time at BSU, I was also an intern at the Center for Orthopaedic and Biomechanics research, where I adapted and created code for various projects, along with helping to train other interns on the computers. While there, I worked on several projects studying biomechanics of the human body, presented at three undergraduate research conferences, and am currently working on a paper based on one of the projects. The time spent doing research was so interesting that I decided to continue on that track. After graduating, I will work on a masters in mechanical engineering at Montana State University, where I will continue on the track of biomedical engineering.

I began attending Boise State University in the Fall of 2016. Growing up here in Boise, my parents encouraged me to live on-campus to establish a new sense of independence and to build a new community of friends. While attending my First Year Orientation the Summer before my first semester of college, an advisor from the College of Engineering recommended I look into the Engineering and Innovation Living Learning Community. At the time, I declared my major in Engineering, but I wasn’t sold on if it would be the right field of study for me. After talking with COEN advisors and meeting Dr. Krishna Pakala, I decided the only way to know if engineering was right for me was by completely submerging myself in a community of those about to go through the same experiences. I am so thankful for the encouragement and sudden change of heart because I truly believe one of the only reasons I stayed in engineering through my first year of college was because of the support and community I had through the EIC.

Living with other females in engineering, we all joined the Society of Women Engineers where I found an amazing mentor and a great group of friends. I fell in love with the SWE community as it was a place to meet new people but also gain hands on experience. My first two years in SWE, we worked on a community out-reach project structurally and electrically modifying power wheels for children with disabilities to use as vessels towards independent mobility. This last year, I had the incredible honor to serve as Conference Chair for our SWE section where I helped prepare members for Global and Local SWE Conferences. Getting involved with COEN clubs and opportunities from the Society of Women Engineers to the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Department Student Advisor Board provided so many valuable experiences to grow outside of the classroom and in more ways than just an engineer.

Beyond extra-curriculars, Boise State offered the opportunity to work as a Learning Assistant for Chemistry, Teaching Assistant for the Engineering and Innovation Living Learning Community, Orientation Leader for New Student Programs, and as an Undergraduate Research Assistant working under Dr. Trevor Lujan in the Northwest Tissue Mechanics Laboratory. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work under Dr. Lujan in the NTM lab. I find so much value in the work we contribute no only to Boise State, a growing research university, but the healthcare community in general. Working in his lab, I felt like I had ownership and value in our projects and enjoyed the friendly, upbeat, and collaborative working environment.

Come July 2020, I will move to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin to work as a Manufacturing Engineer for Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Deltar Fasteners. I am so unbelievably thankful for all the opportunities and support offered by the College of Engineering, and more specifically the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Department. I am so excited to take all my experiences, knowledge, and skills gained through the MBE Program and apply them to my future career.

Raised in a small farming and ranching community in Eastern Oregon, it was easy to find myself chasing after anything with an engine and wanting to discover how it worked. Having worked as a welder and diesel technician, I quickly found myself expanding my education at Boise State University as a mechanical engineer.

As I began my college career, I was fascinated with most all aspects of Mechanical Engineering however I missed ‘hands on’ projects. I became involved in the Civil Engineering Club where I helped build and transport a concrete canoe to an ASCE competition. The following year, with hopes to revive the Mechanical Engineering Club, a few of my driven classmates and myself set out to enter in the Human Powered Vehicle Competition. This was the first time Boise State University had entered in this competition, so we had to start completely from scratch. After several CAD design revisions, I led the fabrication team to completion and the vehicle placed 7th overall in the ASME competition.

I was eventually invited to join Tau Beta Pi where I took over the Vice President role. I worked with fellow officers to construct the first Boise State officer handbook. I was elected to serve on the Student Advisory Board where we created its first mission statement and focused on improving students’ experiences in the program.

I have learned much more than calculus and conservation laws throughout my degree. Learning to work well in groups and cherish personal relationships has been the heart of what I have learned. I hope to use all aspects of my education to someday make a positive impact in the agricultural and industrial engineering realm.

When I first started looking at colleges, I was nervous. As much as I loved my hometown, I wanted to try living somewhere else. Boise State felt like a second home from the start, with a young but strong Mechanical Engineering program, a beautiful growing city, and a kick-butt football team, how could anyone not want to come here?

Since my very first day on campus, I’ve strived for lifelong learning inside and outside the classroom. In my freshman year, I was a part of the Engineering Living Learning Community, where I lived with Dr. Krishna Pakala. I joined the Mechanical Engineering Club and competed in the Human Powered Vehicle competition, beating out top schools and placing 4th in the endurance race and 7th overall. In my junior and senior years, I was accepted into both Tau Beta Pi and Phi Kappa Phi honors societies. I served as Vice President of ME Club and Secretary of Tau Beta Pi and learned a lot from those leadership experiences. Outside of clubs and classes, I spent most of my time going to football games, exploring the great outdoors, and trying every new hot restaurant in town.

I’ve grown a lot over the past four years and am incredibly grateful for the opportunities given to me at BSU, the professors I’ve learned from, and the strong connections I’ve built. I want to thank everyone I’ve met here at BSU for allowing me to succeed and my family for their unwavering support.

Kaelee A. Novich, Nampa, Idaho
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Future Plans: Novich plans to earn a doctorate in materials science and engineering with an emphasis in nuclear engineering and policy management at Boise State.

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