February 2025: Statler Circuit Department Digest and Awards

Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering

Christopher Griffin, an associate professor in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, is the recipient of the American Legion Department of West Virginia 2024 College Educator of the Year Award.  The award recognizes an individual whose accomplishments are over and above their usual vocation. 

Nominated by the American Legion Mountaineer Post 174 in Morgantown, Griffin serves as the faculty advisor of the WVU Student Branch of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, and he conducts research in unstable aerodynamics and in unmanned aerial systems.

In these positions, he uses his skills as an educator to encourage interest and promote learning in the field of aeronautical engineering. 

He also has an exceptional passion for aerodynamics and seeks not only to further the education of his students, but to pass on this passion to the next generation of engineers.

Wadsworth Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Luke Brumback, a civil engineering senior, who was named one of 2025 New Faces of Civil Engineering - College honorees by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Only ten students nationwide receive this honor each year! Brumback credits his activity in WVU’s ASCE student chapter, including leadership in concrete canoe and steel bridge competitions, for how much he’s matured in his college years. “ASCE has led me to become almost an entirely different person than my high school self. If high school me could look at me now, he wouldn't believe it. By being a part of ASCE, my communication skills, networking, and critical thinking have developed in great strides.”

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