Student Spotlight - Michael Zabala
Auburn University
 |
|
Michael Zabala |
Of the estimated 100 students who graduate each year from the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University, only seven have graduated with perfect grade point averages over the past eight years. The next graduate likely to earn that honor is Michael Zabala who carries a very rare perfect GPA in arguably the university's most demanding major. But to his peers, this exceptional student merits admiration not just for academic excellence, but also for striving to live a well-rounded, balanced life which he achieves through active service in campus organizations.
"Michael's service in these organizations demonstrates his desire to lead by example both in and out of the classroom...Michael leads in the classroom by displaying great discipline, excellence, and perseverance in his engineering studies and by helping others," writes a friend.
Michael's scholarship and service have earned him many awards and honors. He is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and was named an Alabama Council of Engineering Companies Scholar. He received the BellSouth Minority Engineering Program Academic Award twice; a scholarship from the National Academy for Nuclear Training; and a 2005 HENAAC/Shaw Industries Scholarship. Among the organizations Michael actively supports are the Auburn Christian Fellowship (AFC) where he is on the leadership team and leader of music; Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society; and Pi Tau Sigma Mechanical Engineering Honor Society. He also volunteered to represent the department of mechanical engineering on Auburn University's student engineering council. Michael also holds a 1st Degree Black Belt in Tae-Kwon-Do.
Michael has enhanced his love of learning with valuable cooperative education experiences. In 2005 he worked at Rolls-Royce Energy Systems, Inc. in Mount Vernon, OH and later that year with Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, IN assigned to Advanced Manufacturing Technology. This year he will spend the summer working at the Rolls-Royce Corp, in Derby, England assigned to the aero-thermal and design divisions for the turbine section of a new commercial jet engine.
Michael has a twin sister who attends the University of Mobile and a younger sister who enrolled at Auburn University in the fall of 2006. His plans for the future include beginning graduate studies in the field of biomedical engineering, specifically in orthopedics and biomechanics, immediately after graduation. In 2006, Michael Zabala was awarded a HENAAC/DaimlerChrysler Scholarship.
