{"425171":{"#nid":"425171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AE senior Amanda Grubb receives Sigma Gamma Tau\u0027s Undergraduate Award - Southeast","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThere\u2019s no question that Sigma Gamma Tau chose the right student to receive its\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.engr.wichita.edu\/ae\/sgt\/awards.htm\u0022\u003E2014 Undergraduate Award for the Southeast Region.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E21-year-old Amanda Grubb is a stand-out student, with research experience to back up her stellar grades in aerospace engineering. She even tutors struggling underclassmen through the Peer Led Undergraduate Study (PLUS) program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut it wasn\u2019t always so sweet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFreshman year, first semester, I failed my first tests in every subject,\u201d she says without blinking. \u201cIt was awful. I called home crying.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe tears didn\u2019t last long \u2013 and neither did the poor grades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy parents suggested that maybe I wasn\u2019t studying hard enough, and they were right. I had breezed through high school and had thought I could do the same at Tech,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAfter those tests, I started hitting the library every day, and by the end of the semester I had pulled off four A\u2019s and one B.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer brief brush with failure gave Grubb all the motivation she needed to work hard. What launched her\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Esuccess\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;were her passion for aerospace engineering and the encouragement of mentors she met along the way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe summer after her first year at Tech, Grubb started doing research in the Ben Zinn Combustion Lab. She cannot divulge details of that research, but she raves about the experience she gained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe graduate student I was working with knew what I was going to be learning in my classes, so he\u2019d make a point of telling me to pay attention to different things in the lab. They would help me make sense of stuff I was going to learn in classes. He was right.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGrubb is also grateful for the steady guidance of her advisor, Dr. Jeff Jagoda and his colleague, Dr. Lakshmi Sankar.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI could go to them with any questions,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has helped a lot.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter she graduates on May 3, Grubb will return to Georgia Tech next fall to pursue her doctorate under the guidance of Dr. Marilyn Smith. Long-term, she looks forward to a career as a professor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI just think it would be great to be in the classroom,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd earning a Ph.D. is what I need to do that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAnd if we are lucky, she\u2019ll choose to teach at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESigma Gamma Tau is the honor society for aerospace engineering. It seeks to identify and recognize achievement and excellence in the aerospace field. Sigma Gamma Tau\u0027s collegiate chapters elect annually to membership those students, alumni, and professionals who, by conscientious attention to their studies or professional duties, uphold this high standard for the betterment of their profession.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"AE senior Amanda Grubb receives Sigma Gamma Tau\u0027s Undergraduate Award"}],"uid":"27456","created_gmt":"2015-07-15 15:25:36","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:04","author":"Britanny Grace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"135121","name":"Amanda Grubb"},{"id":"169882","name":"Sigma Gamma Tau"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["communications@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}