Sara Kouroupis, a 2015 electrical engineering graduate of Auburn University and Ellicott City, Maryland native, has been named the winner of the Alton B. Zerby and Carl T. Koerner Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineering Student Award by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' international honor society, Eta Kappa Nu.
The award recognizes the most outstanding electrical engineering senior in the nation. Recipients demonstrate exceptional scholastic excellence and high moral character coupled with exemplary service to classmates, university, community and the country.
“Sara excels in the classroom but she is also willing to take on additional responsibilities as a tutor and IEEE officer,” said Michael Baginski, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. “She is extremely well liked and respected by everyone in the department. I have no doubt Sara will be a highly successful scientist and engineer.”
With a perfect 4.0 GPA, Kouroupis participated in numerous campus, community and professional activities including the Auburn University Program Council, Auburn Student Alumni Association, Auburn University Recreation and Wellness Center, Habitat for Humanity and Society of Women Engineers. She studied abroad in Greece and Turkey with the University Honors College and completed two internships with AAI Corporation and John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
Kouroupis was also elected and served in a variety of leadership positions with the Eta Kappa Nu XI Auburn Chapter, Tau Beta Pi, Mortar Board, Phi Eta Sigma, Lambda Sigma Pi and Cardinal Key honor societies. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s President’s Award and was named the Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineering Student of the Year.
Following graduation, Kouroupis accepted a position with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in a two-year rotational program while she is also pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. She will receive her award during the annual meeting of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association in March 2016 in La Jolla, California.