Top Aerospace Engineering Senior Honored by Sigma Gamma Tau
May 27 , 2006
By Dr. N. Ma, NCSU

This year, an outstanding MAE senior, Tommy Sebastian, received the 2006 Southeast Region Award from Sigma Gamma Tau. Only eight aerospace engineering seniors in the United States were selected to receive this prestigious award. The awardees are selected based on their academic, service and extracurricular accomplishments. In recognition of Tommy's accomplishments, he has received an honorarium and a certificate. The MAE department will receive a brass nameplate to add Tommy to Sigma Gamma Tau's Award plaque.

Tommy is originally from Kerala , India . His family later moved to Queens , NY and then to Gaffney , SC. For high school, Tommy was admitted to SC Governor's School for Science and Mathematics. At this young age, Tommy became active in research, and presented his work on circular-planform airframe design at the SC Junior Academy of Science Symposium. After high school, Tommy enrolled at NC State University, where he currently majors in Aerospace Engineering and minors in Physics. Tommy is an honors student and has been involved in a number of activities on campus including undergraduate research, equine extension and honors student mentoring. Tommy interned at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. Tommy has also served as the president of the student chapter of AIAA. Tommy has been honored with many awards including the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts Student Award and Caldwell Fellows Merit Award, and has been on the Dean's List nearly every semester at NC State.