ECE honors seven outstanding seniors at Heta Lambda Beta
May 8, 2025
We recognized seven of our outstanding seniors during the Blacksburg Heta Lambda Beta (HLB) induction ceremony on April 23, 2025.
Read more about our students and some of their proudest accomplishments during their time at Virginia Tech!
Electrical Engineering Outstanding Senior: Thomas Lu
With a double major in controls, robotics, and autonomy and machine learning along with minors in biomedical engineering, computer science, and math, Thomas Lu was selected the outstanding electrical engineering student and department’s overall outstanding senior.
- Received the 2025 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
- Founded the Juggling and Flow Arts Club
- President of the Science Olympiad team
- Presented his work on “Robotic Histotripsy Systems for the Precise, Complete, and Non-invasive Ablation of Osteosarcoma Tumors” at the Undergraduate Research Showcase on the Capital
Thomas will pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Computer Engineering Outstanding Senior: Nolan Attreed
With a major in networking and cybersecurity and a minor in math, Nolan Attreed is ECE's outstanding computer engineering student.
- President of Hokie Ambassadors
- Vice president of the Virginia Tech Lego User Group
- Member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
Nolan will return to Virginia Tech back to pursue a Master’s of Engineering in computer engineering in the greater D.C. metro area.
Outstanding Leadership: Maxwell Kawada
With a double major in controls, robotics, and autonomy and machine learning, along with minors in Japanese language and biomedical engineering, Maxwell Kawada received the outstanding leadership award.
- Worked in the “Multifrequency Therapeutic Ultrasound” senior design team
- Member of the Virginia Tech Breakdancing Club
- Founded a research team with Dr. Haibo Zeng on embedded and robotics large language models
Maxwell will be attending Purdue University for a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering; he will perform research with DaVinci Machine surgical robots, focusing on their interactions with operators and machine learning systems.
Outstanding Service: Gobran Hanna
With a major in micro-nanosystems, Gobran Hanna received the outstanding service award.
- President of the ECE ambassador team
- Team lead for OpenBCI Brain Control Interface System with the GrayUR Undergraduate Research Group
- Served through Micah’s Backpack, Meals on Main, The Big Event, and Rise Against Hunger
- Organized a pickleball tournament to raise money toward clean water efforts in the Dominican Republic
Gobran will be working as a sustaining product engineer for Infineon in Leominster, Massachusetts.
Computer Engineering Highest GPA: Richard Martinez
Richard Martinez, who majored in computering engineering, with a minor in computer science, earned the highest grade point average (GPA) for computer engineering.
After graduation, Richard will be working as a research engineer at RTX, where he will focus on developing solutions in the field of digital signal processing, machine learning, and autonomous systems.
Electrical Engineering Highest GPA: Abigail Dillard
Abigail Dillard earned the highest GPA for electrical engineering. She majored in controls, robotics, and autonomy, with a minor in Asian studies, Japanese studies, and international studies.
Abigail’s time at Virginia Tech isn’t over. she’s currently enrolled in Virginia Tech’s undergraduate/graduate accelerated program for her master’s degree.
Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering Highest GPA: Peter Costescu
Peter Costescu earned the highest GPA for the combination of electrical engineering and computer engineering. He double-majored in chip-scale integration and micro-nano systems.
Peter will continue his education with Virginia Tech as a part of the undergraduate/graduate accelerated master's program in the Multifunctional Integrated Circuits and Systems (MICS) group.
Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering Highest GPA: Thomas Lu
With a double major in controls, robotics, and autonomy and machine learning along with minors in biomedical engineering, computer science, and math, Thomas Lu earned the highest GPA for the combination of electrical engineering and computer engineering.