Spring 2023 Electric-E Awardees

Spring 2023 Electric-E Awardees

The Electric-E Award is most prestigious award granted by the department. To receive the award, a student must have a minimum upper-division grade point average of 3.90 as well as a 3.90 or higher grade point average in all electrical or computer engineering courses.

Andrew Cannon
  • Member of the Semiconductor Career Readiness Organization
  • Completed three COOP rotations with a top engineering company
  • Favorite memory as an undergraduate student: eating dinner with friends freshmen year at the Gator Dining Center
  • Fun Fact: Andrew wanted to be an astronaut but he found the food was terrible at a space camp he attended. The first time he visited the US is when he arrived at UF.
  • After graduation, Andrew will continue with the ECE Department, pursuing a Master of Science degree.
Benjamin Hicks
  • Member of ETA Kappa Nu for three years. Served as president, vice president, and corresponding secretary
  • Served as an undergraduate peer instructor (UPI)-EEL3701C, EEL4744C, EEL4712C, and EEL4720
  • Completed research with Dr. Stitt  in the ARC Lab and Dr. Farahmandi  in the FICS Lab.
  • Benjamin was published with ARC  lab for the EUROGP Conference and  DATE conference for the FICS Lab
  • Favorite memory as an undergraduate student: hanging out with friends
  • Fun Facts:  Benjamin is a juggler. He can a cut rug on any dance floor.  Rubik’s Cube—never solved it
  • After graduation, Benjamin is moving to the San Francisco Bay to begin his career with Astera Labs as a digital design engineer
Cody Hutcheson
  • Completed research with Dr. Zare in the Machine Learning and Sensing Lab. Member of Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag) project
  • Favorite memory: working at the UF Teaching Center tutoring in math and physics
  • After graduation, Cody plans to enter the workforce in the engineering industry.
Dylan Philpot
  •  Completed an Internship with a top engineering company
  • Completed research with Dr. Stitt focusing on high-level synthesis targeting FPGAs
  • Served as an undergraduate peer instructor (UPI)—EEL4744C
  • After graduation, Dylan plans to enter the workforce in the engineering industry.
Ian Yu
  • Completed an Internship with a top engineering company in the area of hardware engineering
  • Served as an undergraduate peer instructor (UPI)-EEL3701C
  • After graduation, Ian will begin his engineering career at Ericsson as an ASIC design engineer
Jake Freedman
  •  Served as an undergraduate peer instructor (UPI)-EEL3701C
  • Completed research with Dr. Stitt  in the ARC Lab
John A. Holguin III
  • Member of Tau Beta Pi, IEEE, Westside Baptist College Ministry served as small group leader and involvement coordinator
  • Completed an Internship with a top engineering company
  • Completed research with Dr. Wayne Giang focusing on analyzing user interaction strategies with health insurance decisions aids
  • Favorite memory: playing intramural sports with friends and roommates
  • After graduation, John is  getting married then moving back home to work on Eglin Air Force Base as an electronics engineer. After a year of work, he will return to school to earn a master’s degree.
John Christian Michaelis
  • Member of Solar Gators, served as motor controller lead, business coordinator, electrical project manager, and president
  • Completed an internship with a top engineering company
  • Served as an undergraduate peer instructor (UPI)-EEL3111C
  • Fun Facts: He is a jazz pianist and free diver
  • After graduation, John will begin his engineering career at Lutron as an embedded project engineer
Patrick Dunleavy
  •  Member of Solar Gators—participated on the power board team
  • Served as an undergraduate peer instructor (UPI)-EEL3111C
  • Favorite memory: meeting new people in my classes and the New Engineering Building (NEB)
  • Fun Facts: Favorite class is Dr. Wang’s Power Electronics course. Favorite sport is hockey
  • After graduation, Patrick will begin his engineering career with Alstom as a hardware architect
Robert Herring
  • Member of Gator Robotics—outreach director; AeroGator—flight supervisor/vice president/president; Engineering Leadership Circle—president; ASABE Robotics—electrical lead; WECE—Maker Garage coordinator
  • Completed two internships and a COOP rotation with top engineering companies
  • Favorite memory: attending the Naval Academy Leadership Conference
  • Fun Facts: Robert is pilot. The Airbus A321 (Delta Airlines) has his name written on the side
  • After graduation, Robert will begin his career with the Gulfstream Aerospace in Savannah, GA designing aircrafts cockpits.
Trevor Free
  •  Completed research with Dr. Arnold’s  group working in IoT4Ag (Internet of Things for Agriculture), with a focus on magnetics and electronics
  • Served as an undergraduate peer instructor (UPI)-EEE3308C
  • Favorite memory: being part of the University of Florida Fightin’ Gator Marching Band and playing at the FSU game in his first year.
  • Fun Facts: Collects old maps of Florida
  • After graduation, Trevor will continue his studies at UF, planning to earn his PhD.
Trinidad Grinspan
  • Member of Puppy Club, Sabor Latino, HSA’s official dance team served as Sabor Latino’s assistant secretary and vice president.
  • Completed two internship with a top engineering company
  • Completed research with Dr. Arnold focusing on wireless  power transfer and supercapacitors
  • Favorite memory: watching the 2022 World Cup with all my friends in the Reitz Union!  Viva Argentina!!!
  • Fun Facts: I give myself monthly challenges to keep learning! I know all of the country flags and capitals. I am originally from Argentina. At one time, I was a competitive dancer, now I am a dance teacher.
  • After graduation, Trinidad plans to enter the workforce in the engineering industry then earn a MBA.
William Heatherington Davis
  • Member of Gator Amateur Radio, Eta Kappa Nu, Gator Robotics, and Gator Judo
  •  Completed an internship with one of our US Military branches
  • Completed research with Dr. Greene and Dr. Wong focusing on  distributed, collaborative timing estimation algorithms
  • Served as an undergraduate peer instructor (UPI)-EEL3135 and EEL4514C
  • After graduation, William plans to pursue a Ph.D. in electrical engineering
Hannah Susan Kempfert
Lianan Joy Aidong Armil