MACON – Sixteen students were inducted into Mercer University’s Georgia Beta Chapter of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Prospective Tau Beta Pi inductees are among the top eighth and fifth of the School of Engineering’s junior and senior classes, respectively.

This year’s inductees include:

  • Sara Binet, an environmental engineering major from Birmingham, Alabama
  • Caroline Bowers, a civil engineering major from Decatur, Georgia
  • Victoria Cordista, a mechanical engineering major from Moultrie, Georgia
  • Gabrielle D’Alessandro, a biomedical engineering major from Pooler, Georgia
  • Samuel Fong, a biomedical engineering major from McDonough, Georgia
  • Michelle Graham, an environmental engineering major from Lutz, Florida
  • Joshua Henderson, a mechanical engineering major from Flowery Branch, Georgia
  • John Spencer Laue, a biomedical engineering major from Huntsville, Alabama
  • Mary Lichtenwalner, an electrical engineering major from Cumming, Georgia
  • Barrett McDonald, an environmental engineering major from Pooler, Georgia
  • McPherson Newell, a biomedical engineering major from Augusta, Georgia
  • Andrew Reisig, a mechanical engineering major from Kennesaw, Georgia
  • Ebonye Smith, an electrical engineering major from Augusta, Georgia
  • Marina Van Sickle, an industrial engineering major from Rincon, Georgia                              
  • Pooja Vikraman, a biomedical engineering major from Cumming, Georgia
  • Zachary Ivan Waller, an electrical engineering major from Tifton, Georgia

These students, who were inducted in a virtual ceremony on April 18, make up Mercer’s 27th induction class since the University installed its chapter and inducted its inaugural class in 1995.

The nation’s second-oldest honor society, Tau Beta Pi Honor Society was founded in 1885 by Edward Higginson Williams Jr. at Lehigh University to recognize students who display both distinguished scholarship in technical fields and exemplary character.

Tau Beta Pi offers more than 100 scholarships of $2,000 for its senior-year members, and the Engineering Futures Program provides trained instructors to teach interpersonal and leadership development skills to 2,000 students annually. The Society also offers opportunities for personal development by providing a means to assume roles of leadership in member institutions and provide distinctive service.

Tau Beta Pi is highly regarded within industry and high academia and has grown to include 241 collegiate chapters that have initiated more than 545,000 members, including Nobel laureates, astronauts, Olympians and more.

About the School of Engineering

Mercer University’s School of Engineering, founded in 1985, offers innovative and academically challenging programs that provide students with a comprehensive education, featuring a solid foundation in mathematics and sciences, a core engineering curriculum, a range of courses in engineering specialties and a strong emphasis on communication technologies. The School is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top three master’s-degree-level engineering schools in the Southeast. Known for its breadth of instruction in its undergraduate program and its five-year joint bachelor’s and master’s degree program, the School combines technical education with hands-on laboratory experience. Mercer engineers can look forward to joining fellow alumni in companies such as Robins Air Force Base, Mercer Engineering Research Center, Northrop Grumman, Georgia Power, Manhattan Associates and Gulfstream Aerospace.