Allison McMinn was named 2020 Lincoln Laureate
May 19, 2020
In Spring 2020, ECBE senior Allison McMinn was named the 2020 Lincoln Laureate. Lincoln Laureates are outstanding seniors from each of the four-year degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois and in the fall of each year receive the Student Lincoln Academy Medallion and become Student Laureates of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Ceremonies include congratulatory statements from the governor who presents the Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Medallion along with a challenge coin, a certificate, and a monetary award. Highlights are included below from Allison's nomination package:
Allison McMinn more than fulfills the requirements for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities, maintaining a 4.0 GPA while serving as a leader in various extracurricular activities and service engagements. During her freshman year, she conducted research alongside Dr. Hatziadoniu on how photovoltaic cells work and how this technology can be incorporated into contemporary medicine. More recently, she has collaborated with Dr. Ying Chen to conduct research on reconstruction algorithms for 3D tomosynthesis, with applications in early breast cancer detection. Allison received an SIUC REACH grant (2018-2019) and an NSF REU grant (Summer 2019) to continue her research at Duke University. Due to her impressive academic achievement, Allison was inducted into Tau Beta Pi (national engineering honors society), as a junior member. She has presented her work at various research symposiums around the nation and is presently a finalist for this year’s SWE National Collegiate Competition in Anaheim, California.
She has been a very active member of the SIU robotics team in which she has been the secretary, vice president, and team leader for a “robo” brawl team. She is the President of the SIUC chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and has by her example and outreach enhanced a supportive environment for women engineers. She also volunteers at events such as Expanding Your Horizons that help motivate young girls to pursue careers in the STEM fields.