Four ECE ILLINOIS students selected Knights of St. Patrick

3/11/2015 Daniel Dexter, ECE ILLINOIS

ECE seniors Bodecker DellaMaria, Murtaza Haider, Siddharthan Sethupathi, and Sakshi Srivastava were selected as Knights of St. Patrick in the Class of 2015.

Written by Daniel Dexter, ECE ILLINOIS

ECE seniors Murtaza Haider, Bodecker DellaMaria, Siddharthan Sethupathi, and Sakshi Srivastava were selected as Knights of St. Patrick in the Class of 2015. The four ECE students will be honored along with the eight other Knights in a ceremony March 14. The award is one of the highest honors given to students at Engineering at Illinois.

Bodecker DellaMaria

As the chairman of the ECE Student Advancement Committee (ECESAC), Bodecker DellaMaria, a senior in computer engineering, has dedicated his time to growing the culture within ECE ILLINOIS.

Despite not being accepted onto the committee as a freshman, DellaMaria wasn’t discouraged. He continued to volunteer his time to the organization at as many events as he could and eventually became a member the next year. In his time as chairman, he has grown the organization from 12 members to 29, and has helped manage ECESAC’s rapid growth.

DellaMaria said the Knight of St. Patrick honor is an acknowledgement of all of the people who have supported him. He added that the seeing the accomplishments of ECE ILLINOIS’ alumni has contributed to his growth as he pursues becoming a leader within his field.

“It’s amazing to be recognized among a group of people who are so passionate engineering. They will go on for the rest of their lives to do amazing things because that of that spark that was started here at Illinois,” DellaMaria said. “I think all of the Knights are really thankful for the opportunities we have been given here.”

He recently decided his post-college plans and will join a fleet management startup as a software engineer. His job requires him to move to San Francisco, Calif. DellaMaria is looking forward to making an impact at a company with a tight-knit atmosphere.

Murtaza Haider

Murtaza Haider, a senior in electrical engineering, has been at the forefront of organizing some of the largest events in College of Engineering.

Haider co-directed this year’s Engineering EXPO, the largest student-run engineering career fair in the country, and helped streamline the process through the development of a mobile app that cut down on printing costs and improved student research capabilities. He also worked on creating a partnership with Zebra Technologies by introducing self-service name tag printers for students and employers.

He has also helped promote engineering through his involvements in Engineering Open House, the IEEE student chapter, and ECE Pulse. Haider said that it was an honor to serve in all of his leadership roles and his goal was to always give back more than he received in various positions.

Winning the Knight of St. Patrick honor was a humbling experience for Haider because it puts him the company of many incredibly successful alumni, he said. He was grateful to the ECE department for giving him the tools to succeed as an international student.

“Coming in as an international student, it was big change because you are not only adjusting to school life, you have to get used to a new country and a new environment,” Haider said. “The ECE department has pushed me to my limits and given me the tools I need to succeed. This has given me the confidence to work on projects that can help others, and hopefully I will continue doing so in the future.”

Haider will spend a fifth year on campus before graduating. He will work at W.W. Grainger in Chicago this summer. He is still considering his post-graduation options, but wants to choose a path that allows him to help others and make an impact.

Siddharthan Sethupathi

Sid Sethupathi, a senior in electrical engineering, has been a leader within the College of Engineering since coming to Illinois.

Serving on its executive board the past three years, Sethupathi is the current president of Engineering Council. He has helped coordinate some of college’s largest events, such as E-week and Engineering Open House.

Within ECE ILLINOIS, he was also dedicated to developing the student involvement in the department through ECESAC. This year, Sethupathi has focused on social events, including working on a rejuvenation of the ECE Talent Show.

He considers the Knight of St. Patrick award a recognition of not only his academics, but also the extra hours he and his fellow classmates have put in outside the classroom to help improve the Engineering at Illinois and ECE ILLINOIS further.

“ECE has opened a lot of doors for me,” Sethupathi said. “They have built a community that a lot of different colleges don’t have. When I came in as a freshman, I felt that I was part of a community, and that’s where I really want to give back and foster that community going forward.”

After graduating, he plans to work at a startup in Redwood City, Calif., that does analytics for pharmaceutical companies. He is excited about the opportunity to work at a small company that he can help build from the ground up.

Sakshi Srivastava

For the Sakshi Srivastava, a senior in electrical engineering, pursuing an ECE degree was not her first choice.

As an incoming international student from India, she planned to major in engineering physics, but after her freshman year, she realized her true passion lies with ECE.

“People ask me how much I like ECE, and I tell them that I like it so much that I switched my major, knowing I might jeopardize graduating on time,” Srivastava said. “It’s a wonderful feeling to be a part of an institution that not only has a great engineering program, but also helps as students develop leadership qualities.”

Srivastava believes the Knight of St. Patrick award is an appreciation of the work she has put in to promote diversity within the College of Engineering, including her pursuit of a female engineering statue on campus. She has also served in leadership roles in a variety of student organizations, including Promoting Undergraduate Research in Engineering, and committee positions in the IEEE student chapter, and Women in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school in hopes of becoming a professor. Her specific area of interest is electromagnetics. She enjoys this particular field because of all the future developments possible through wireless technology.


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This story was published March 11, 2015.