Engineering Grad Student Tops at Mac

November 20, 2009

An engineering student has been recognized as the top graduate student at McMaster this past year.

Kevin Mumford was presented with the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal at Fall Convocation today. The medal is presented annually to the graduate student with the highest academic standing at McMaster during the academic year.

Approximately 170 engineering students convocated in the Fall term. More than 130 received their Master’s and PhD degrees and 35 their undergraduate degrees.

Kevin convocated earlier this year with a PhD in civil engineering. His research focused on identifying contaminants polluting groundwater, such as gasoline and PCBs, and finding ways to address problems encountered. His PhD co-advisors were Sarah Dickson, associate professor of civil engineering, and Jim Smith, professor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences.

An NSERC post-doctoral fellowship has allowed Kevin to continue pursuing his research studies at the University of Western Ontario, commuting from Hamilton. He earned his B.A.Sc. in Environmental Engineering-Chemical Branch and Master’s of Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and has worked for an environmental engineering consulting firm on projects throughout North America.

Kevin has previously received several other accolades. In 2008, he won the Canadian Geotechnical Society’s southern Ontario and national graduate student presentation competitions. He was presented with an outstanding student paper award at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco. In 2005, he was awarded the Graduate Student Association Teaching Assistant Excellence Award at McMaster.