KU engineering students elected to regional council offices

LAWRENCE -- Members of the Engineering Student Council at the University of Kansas walked away with two regional executive offices during the regional engineering student council conference in mid-April in Austin, Texas.

Jennifer Gunby, Roeland Park senior in civil engineering and in business administration, was elected vice president of communications for the National Association of Engineering Student Councils Central Region. The post requires Gunby to oversee production of the NAESC Central Region newsletter and be responsible for communication between the central region officers and the member councils. Gunby just finished a term as president of KU's Engineering Student Council and will continue to serve the group as the finance chair during the coming year. Gunby is the daughter of Joni Bender of Roeland Park and is a Shawnee Mission North High School graduate.

Andrew G. Schmidt, sophomore in computer engineering from Bloomington, Minn., was elected vice president of administration for the NAESC Central Region. Schmidt will serve as webmaster for the NAESC Central Region and will maintain electronic communication systems for the region. He also must assist regional officers and the national director of relations in the duties of their offices. In addition to the regional position, Schmidt recently was elected to serve as the vice president of the KU Engineering Student Council. Schmidt is the son of Greg and Bonnie Schmidt of Bloomington, Minn., and is an Academy of Holy Angels High School graduate.

The KU Engineering Student Council also won three awards at the conference: Most Unique Council, Best Non-EWeek Event and Best Road Trip to Texas.

Several factors go into determining the Most Unique Council, said George Oruoch, junior in aerospace engineering from Nairobi, Kenya. Oruoch, the son of Daniel Oruoch of Nairobi, just began his term as president of KU Engineering Student Council.

"It's based on the kind of activities you have, the size of the council based on the rest of the school and the motivation of the officers," he said.

The council received the award for Best Non-EWeek Event for its efforts with the E-Club, a weekly outreach program the council developed with a Lawrence junior high school. (EWeek refers to National Engineers Week, the third week in February, which honors the efforts and accomplishments of engineers and strives to introduce elementary and secondary school students to engineering fields.)

The Best Road Trip to Texas Award was designed to test the participating councils' creativity by having them fashion their own Texas tall tales, Oruoch said.

Eleven KU engineering students attended the conference April 10 through 13. The conference is designed to bring councils together to discuss program ideas and share strategies for increasing the effectiveness of the councils.