Gaetano J. Scuderi and Kevin S. Ackerman, both BME seniors, were recognized by WPI as Salisbury Award recipeints and Conrad M. Ruiz, a BME junior was recognized as the Two Towers student of the year.
Kevin Ackerman grew up in Staatsburg, New York and graduated from WPI with a B.S. in biomedical engineering with minors in chemistry, music, and biochemistry. Kevin worked in the Pins lab for three years in the capacities of volunteer, summer fellow, and MQP student. Outside of the classroom and the lab, Kevin worked for three years both as a tutor in the Academic Resources Center, mostly guiding students through calculus IV, organic chemistry, and as a Crimson Key tour guide. In addition, Kevin was actively involved in and was a leader in the jazz ensemble, club tennis team, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and the pre-health society Mu Sigma Delta (MSD). Kevin will be attending Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan beginning in August 2016.
Gaetano Scuderi grew up in Agawam, Massachusetts. At WPI, he completed a track in Biomaterials/Tissue Engineering with a minor in Biology. Throughout the community, he is a Big Brother/Big Sister mentor, Vice President of Member Development for the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, President of Habitat for Humanity, and is involved in Alpha Eta Mu Beta Biomedical Engineering Honors Society as well as Tau Beta Pi Engineering National Honors Society. Next year he will be attending Cornell University for a PhD program in Biomedical Engineering focused on cardiac regeneration.
Kevin and Gaetano received the university’s Salisbury award for outstanding WPI seniors. The Salisbury awards is given every year to WPI students who excelled in scholarship, service to the community, and project-based work.
Conrad Ruiz, a BME junior, grew up in Miami, Florida. At WPI, he is completing a track in Biomaterials/Tissue Engineering and is minoring in Business. Conrad has been a Community Advisor for two years, has served numerous positions for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, was President and founder of the WPI Water Polo Club, and is currently involved in SIGMA, an anti-hazing organization, and ETHOS, a program educating fraternity men on sexual assault. He plans to attend graduate school, focusing particularly on the field of biomedical design, with the hopes of one day being able to specialize heavily on the development of artificial kidneys.
Conrad received the prestigious Two Towers award, given to one outstanding WPI junior every year. The Two Towers award is given to a WPI junior who exemplifies the university’s dedication to knowledge through theory and practice. This is measured through academic excellence, service to the community, campus leadership, and student research.