February 14, 2007
Corwin Olson, UT senior Aerospace Engineering major, has received the Cooperative Education Student Achievement Award from the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA). CEIA is a national organization dedicated to professional development in the field of cooperative education. This award is given to one student each year who is nominated by professionals in the cooperative education field. The recipient is chosen based on written statements by a member of CEIA, the student’s employer and the student himself. Corwin’s co-op coordinator, Laura Davison, had this to say about him: “Corwin has actively sought out new challenges…not only to better himself but also the world around him.”
Corwin began his first co-op term with the United Space Alliance (USA) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in the spring of 2005. Corwin set himself apart from other students in the Co-op Program with his strong leadership abilities. He became a certified NASA instructor for several classes and completed the Motion Control System (MCS) specialist mastery. He further distinguished himself by teaching more classes than anyone else in his group and being rated as one of the top four instructors in his division by the 2004 class of astronauts. He also earned the title of MCS Global Positioning System (GPS) Subject Matter Expert. In this role he developed a new class called GPS 101 for NASA’s Training Division. These accomplishments and his work with his fellow co-ops earned Corwin the Silver Gyro award. In presenting this award USA recognized him as “go[ing] above and beyond expectations.”
The CEIA’s Cooperative Education Student Award recognizes not only his work off campus, but also his contribution to The University of Texas at Austin. Corwin is an Aerospace Engineering student who not only maintains an excellent GPA but is actively involved in research, community service, and numerous campus organizations. He is an active member of Kappa Theta Epsilon (KTE), the co-op honor society. Through his work in that organization and the UT student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Corwin has helped promote the engineering cooperative education program around campus.
Corwin plans to complete his undergraduate coursework at UT this semester, and graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in May of 2007.
Corwin is a great example of how cooperative education can strongly impact and shape a student’s future. The Engineering Cooperative Education Office is proud to count him among the alumni of its program. Corwin will accept his award and give a short acceptance speech at the CEIA Gala Awards Banquet in Dallas, Texas, on March 27.
