Lambda Zeta, the electrical engineering honors society chapter, recently received the Outstanding Chapter Award from Eta Kappa Nu, the international honor society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, for the 2017-18 academic year.

Lambda Zeta, which began under electrical engineering Professors Oscar Garcia and Murali Varanasi, aims to engage juniors, seniors, and graduate students who excel in the fields of electrical and computer engineering through outreach, workshops and fundraising activities. The society, which had been dormant for several years prior to 2017, was revitalized thanks to the hard work and dedication of chapter president Kelvin Darden, Seth Markovich, Travis Black, Melissa Sinclair, Aishat Bolomope and Joseph Forrest.

The students spent countless hours developing and implementing workshops for K-12 students and undergraduates, coordinating fundraising events, and arranging for guest speakers from industry to come and speak about their experiences in the field. The group also hosted a career fair prep workshop aimed at helping students get a leg up at the biannual engineering and computer science career fair. 

 “Kelvin and his team had to work really hard to put life back into it,” said Gayatri Mehta, electrical engineering associate professor and chapter advisor. “It was great to see that the year they put so much work into it is the year they received the award.”

This past semester, 2018-19 chapter President Dustin Howe took the helm, offering fellow students advice on their presentations and help with preparing for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam.

“The underclassmen seem to benefit from getting feedback on their PowerPoints and presentation skills earlier in their time here,” said Howe.

The society also plans to enter a team into the UNT Robotics Club Bot-a-thon this coming April.