Melanie Drake with Dean's Medal. Also pictured are Prof. Stu Adler (left) and Chair Dan Schwartz.
When Melanie Drake graduate in June 2011, she took more than a bachelor’s degree with her. Melanie is Chemical Engineering’s first student to win a Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence. She was awarded the medal for her achievements in academic grades and courses, research experience, extracurricular activities, and leadership. She received the award at the Community of Innovators Awards ceremony in 2011.
Coming to the UW was an easy choice and family affair for Melanie. “I am a fourth generation husky,” she said. “Two of my great-grandfathers were electrical engineering majors. My grandpa was a forestry engineering major, my grandma an education major, and my dad a forestry engineering major. I grew up being told by my dad that I could go to college anywhere I choose except WSU. In the end, I was always destined to be a husky.”
After taking a chemistry class with Prof. Campbell, Melanie fell in love with the subject. She became interested in energy research and realized Chemical Engineering was the right major for her.
During her junior and senior years, she received the Chemical Engineering Book Scholarship, the Danner Scholarship, and a Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Scholarship. “Having scholarships definitely helped free up my time from otherwise having to work, which I did during the beginning of my time at UW. It allowed me to fit undergraduate research into my schedule and to spend the necessary bajillion hours in Benson that it took to bond with my classmates and get through our classes.”
For her undergraduate research, Melanie worked with Professor Adler and then-graduate student Cortney Kreller on fuel cell research. “I had a wonderful experience doing undergraduate research, and it is one of the key factors in my decision to pursue a PhD. Both Cortney and Professor Adler taught me not only what it means to be a great engineer, but to be a great teacher and mentor as well.”
Melanie was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The fellowship will be used for her graduate studies at UC Berkeley, where she hopes to continue her fuel cells research. “I see graduate school as my opportunity to really contribute to science and the world. No matter what area I go into, I know I'll make a difference.”
Even though her undergraduate days are over, she will carry a part of the UW with her. “Some of my favorite memories were the late nights in Benson when everyone started bonding through sleep deprivation and cabin fever in the computer lab,” she said. “I view my graduating class as a sort of second family, and will keep in contact with many for the rest of my life.”