CS Awards
CS Awards
CS Awards
The Computer Science department periodically issues department awards for our most accomplished students. Here are the students who have won awards for the Spring 2022 Semester, and a short description of their accomplishments.
Nhan Huyhn Medallion Award : Mathew J. Fiduk
Mathew J. Fiduk demonstrates the highest distinction of academic excellence in the Computer Science Department. In addition to Bantivoglio Honors, Mathematics and German minors, he is a member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon and Pi Mu Epsilon Honor Societies. He frequently serves as a CS Learning Assistant & Tutor, German Tutor, and Rowan Admissions Ambassador. For research, he is part of the Rowan CS – Bristol Myers Squibb Collaboration – Natural Language Processing Team. Mathew participated in the CS Cooperative Education Program at Lockheed Martin, where he plans to return after completing his graduate studies in our Rowan Computer Science Combined Advanced Degree Program.

Dean's Outstanding Senior Award (DOSA): Rachel Dietz
Rachel Dietz is a model ambassador for Computer Science with her engagement in programs and activities within Rowan University and in the greater community. Rachel currently serves as President for our Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society and is also a member of Tau Sigma Honor Society. In addition to supporting other students as a CS Learning Assistant and Tutor, she actively collaborates with other CS student organizations to lead initiatives to increase student involvement. She has also provided outreach to youth teams as a coach and mentor for the First Lego League as well as being a Project and Core Value Judge for South Jersey qualifiers.

Dean's Outstanding Senior Award (DOSA): Gurkirat Dhillon
Gurkirat Dhillon is a double major in Computing & Informatics and History, along with a minor in International Studies and CUGS in Management Information Systems. He is currently serving his second term as Treasurer for Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society and is also a member of Sigma Iota Rho Honor Society and the Rowan University Cybersecurity, Blockchain Study, and Google Developer Student Clubs. Along with working as a CS Learning Assistant and as a part-time Web/Social Media Manager for Wings Church, he previously interned at the Camden County Democratic Committee as well as participated in the NSF REU Cybersecurity Program.

CS Outstanding Senior Award (CS OSA): Luke LaValva
Luke LaValva is completing a BS in Computer Science with extensive experiential and research experience. He is a member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society, interned at RunSignup, served as a CS Learning Assistant/Tutor and as a MindBytes private tutor. In addition to research with Bristol Myers Squibb, Lucas collaborated with Dr. Shen-Shyang Ho and Dr. Hieu Nguyen resulting in conference papers including “Optimal N-ary ECOC Matrices for Ensemble Classification” for 2021 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence and “Ensemble Learning using Error Correcting Output Codes: New Classification Error Bounds” for 33rd IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence.

CS Outstanding Senior Award (CS OSA): Luke Lichter
Luke Lichter has taken full advantage of Rowan’s diverse programs and maximized his potential with opportunities in completing his studies by graduating with a BA in Computing & Informatics and BA in Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management, along with a minor in Computer Science and a concentration in Cybersecurity. He has also gained valuable experiential learning by first working as a Delivery Technician for Rowan Information Resources & Technology and then transitioning to the Information Security Office as an Information Security Intern. After graduation, Luke plans to work in cybersecurity while studying for the Security+ certification and eventually his CISSP.

CS Outstanding Graduate Award (CS OGA): Autumn Lilly Chadwick
Autumn Lilly Chadwick serves as a Graduate Teaching Fellow in pursuit of an MS in Computer Science with Continual Learning Related Thesis Research for Embedded Devices. As an NSF Research Assistant collaborating with Dr. Shen-Shyang Ho and others, publications have included “A Discrete Model For Bike Share Inventory” in the International Journal of Differential Equations and participation in “NSF Data Challenge – Traffic Task”. Autumn is also interning as an Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Developer for Wind River and has given a keynote talk on Continual Learning. In the National Cyber League, their individual and team game also placed in the 93rd percentile.

CS Outstanding Graduate Award (CS OGA): Randolph T. Bushman
Randolph T. Bushman is graduating with his BS and MS in Computer Science as part of the accelerated Combined Advanced Degree Program (CADP). He is a member of Mu Pi Epsilon and Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Societies and helps recruit for the Boy Scouts of America’s summer camp technology center. His research for Bristol Myers Squibb included designing software to streamline the analysis of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectra. With Scholarship for Service, he interned on the Advanced Course in Engineering and the U.S. Air Force research teams. Randy will be working for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory after graduation.