Celebrating the Community-Building Achievements of Tandon’s Student Leaders

The massive buffet of candy was the first indication that there was something special going on in Pfizer Auditorium. An excited crowd filed through colorful balloon arches and past a bevy of lollipop sculptures to fill individual treat bags before taking their seats at NYU Tandon’s 2016-17 Student Leader Awards, honoring the outstanding student organizations, student leaders, and faculty advisors for their community-building work over the past year.

The theme of the decorations and refreshments may have been light-hearted, but the accomplishments of those being honored was anything but, as Brittney Anne Bahlman, Tandon’s Director of Student Affairs and Student Activities made plain when she welcomed the audience.

“You are truly ambassadors for the Tandon School of Engineering, working to build stronger links and cross collaborations with your peers at NYU,” she said. “It has been a year of growth for many of our student clubs, as you have hosted more programs, engaged more students, and collaborated with more NYU community members than ever before.” Bahlman pointed out that during the fall semester alone, Tandon’s student organizations hosted more than 400 programs and engaged more than 1,900 individual students – more than a third of all those enrolled at the school. “The investment of your time as student leaders contributes directly to enriching the student experience for all and brings pride to the NYU Tandon name wherever you go,” she concluded.

While the candy served was sweet, that sense of pride was undeniably even sweeter.

Organization of the Year, Muslim Student Association

Winners at the event included:

• Organization of the Year – Muslim Student Association (MSA)
• Student Leaders of the Year – Rawan Abbasi and Pirthmey Randhawa
• Distinguished Engagement Award – Ife Lawal and Stefan Cherubin
• Emerging Leaders Award – Sanjana Ramchandani and Ellie Ly
• Faculty Advisor of the Year – Carmen Villafane of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

Emerging Leaders Award, Ellie Ly and Sanjana Ramchandani

Outstanding Programming Awards:

• Community Engagement & Civic Responsibility – Muslim Student Association (MSA)
• Diversity & Cultural Competency – Graduate Indian Student Association (GISA)
• Innovation & Creative Thinking – Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
• Interpersonal Leadership Development – Base Pairs
• Connection to the Global Network University – Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA)

Distinguished Engagement Award, Ife Lawal and Stefan Cherubin; and Abigail Kerns of the Office of Student Activities and Resource Center

Outstanding Organizational Performance Awards:

• Financial Management – National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
• Event Management – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Student Engagement – Alpha Omega Epsilon (AOE)
• Organizational Management – Poly Anime Society (PAS)
• Organizational Growth – out in STEM (oSTEM)
• Organizational Collaboration – Entrepreneurship and Innovation Association (EIA)

Other groups recognized for their service included the Graduate and Undergraduate Student Councils, International Student Advisory Board, First Year Mentorship Program (with special mention of First Year Mentorship Commissioner Ali Sohail), Orientation Captains, Engaging Engineers, SOEciety Agents of Change, and Poly Project Student Ambassadors.