October 25, 2019
This year the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics held its annual Fall Festival On Friday, Oct. 18 for the first time on the newly designed Aerospace Engineering Building plaza.
Nearly 300 members of the ASE/EM community, including students, alumni, faculty and staff, attended the event where local barbecue was served and student groups hosted various activities and tables to showcase their work. Student teams present at the event included the Design/Build/Fly team, UAV Austin, the Texas Spacecraft Lab and Women in Aerospace for Leadership Development.
During the program, department chair Noel Clemens welcomed the community to the Fall Festival where he expressed his excitement to host the event for the first time on the department’s recently landscaped plaza, reminding everyone that this is another positive addition to our new home where many department and student events will now be held for years to come. The new plaza includes brightly colored picnic tables and several bistro-style tables and chairs, supplying additional study space for students.
Clemens also thanked donors who were present at the event for their continued support of our students and the new ASE Building. Following the welcome speech, Clemens introduced LUNAR Council members who announced the winner of the 2019 ASE/EM LUNAR Teaching Award.
Each year LUNAR (Leadership, Undergraduate, Networking and Recruitment) Council, a group of ASE/EM student leaders that was developed to create a dialogue between students and department faculty and staff, uses student feedback and numerical ratings to select a faculty recipient for the teaching award. This year’s recipient was Raghav Mahalingam. Students read aloud many of the nomination letters from students, then presented Mahalingam with a plaque and check.
The evening closed out with a drawing for free prizes from local establishments as guests continued to enjoy the beautiful day on the plaza visiting, networking and reminiscing.
View Fall Festival event photos.
NOTE: If you’re a graduate of the department and did not receive an invitation to Fall Festival and wish to attend the event next year, please update your contact information online.
