Rivera Chosen for Knights of St. Pat

 

NPRE undergraduate Nicholas Rivera will join an elite group of Engineering at Illinois student leaders when he becomes a Knight of St. Patrick this week.

 

Rivera and nine other students, chosen for their leadership, excellence in character, and exceptional contributions to the College and its students, will be knighted Saturday, March 15.

While majoring in nuclear engineering and minoring in the highly selective Hoeft Technology and Management program, Rivera has also been a leader on campus, both through the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Morrill Engineering Program (MEP).

He has been called “a well-rounded problem solver – not only a leader; but someone who helps groom new leaders.” Outside the classroom, Rivera worked his way up the leadership ladder at SHPE, serving first as external vice president of the organization’s freshman roundtable, then as external vice president of the executive board, and as the group’s president.

As external vice president, he launched fundraising efforts, which resulted in $10,000 to send fellow members to the national conference. As president, he brought in several industry professionals to an SHPE executive board retreat to share insights on teamwork, financial stability, and professional demeanor.

“Through (Rivera’s) leadership, SHPE has maintained and perhaps even increased its presence with other engineering student organizations, as well as the La Casa Cultural Latina cultural center including other Hispanic organizations with similar missions,” said Ivan Favila, Assistant Dean and MEP Director. “Most remarkable is the role he took in updating the organization’s constitution to allow it to increase the accountability of its leadership.”

Through MEP, Rivera developed to attract and retain aspiring engineers from underrepresented groups in engineering, Rivera has helped promote the College to various external groups, including recruiting students from his high school. He has played a major role in MEP student visits and the President’s Award Scholars Program and has been the facilitated group study leader for Calculus 1.

 

The College also recognized Rivera in Spring 2013 when he was selected for the William R. Schowalter Award. The award acknowledges former Dean Schowalter’s outstanding character, creativity, and enthusiasm, as well as his dedication to students and faculty. The recipient of the annual award reflects those traits through leadership, creativity, encouragement of others, and dedication to the college.

 

Rivera is the 2013-14 president for the American Nuclear Society (ANS) student chapter, and received NPRE’s 2013 Catherine Pritchard Undergraduate Scholarship, and the Exelon Corporation Energy for Education Scholarship. He has garnered several other scholarship awards, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship and the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Readiness Scholarship. Rivera has served as a PWR core design intern and Reactor Engineering Intern for Exelon Generation and as undergraduate researcher for the Center for Plasma Materials Interactions.

Rivera also served as the Co-Corporate Director for the Engineering Open House, where he was responsible for uniting the corporate committee, obtaining sponsorship for the event, and planning logistics for this event, which attracts over 20,000 visitors annually.