Jon Williamson ’20 received the most prestigious honor available to a graduating senior from the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University – the Craig C. Brown Outstanding Senior Engineer Award. The award, which is over 70 years old, is presented to a student who excels scholastically, who exemplifies leadership and whose character exceeds standards.
“My experience at Texas A&M has been transformational,” said Williamson. “I have grown as a mechanical engineer, a computer scientist, a leader and as a human over the last four and a half years.”
A zealous student from Colorado, Williamson felt immediately connected to Texas A&M’s core values and long-standing traditions. He chose the difficult path of pursuing mechanical engineering and computer science degrees simultaneously due to his interests in multiple fields.
“I love the pure analytical nature of engineering,” said Williamson. “I see math everywhere: when I walk to class, when I review current events and when I’m relaxing. Engineering allows me to apply robust and often enlightening analytical tools to any situation.”
In December, Williamson will graduate with 218 credit hours instead of the typical 128, in just four and a half years of study. He is on track to graduate summa cum laude with an Honors Fellows distinction. He has participated in multiple engineering projects, from custom art tools to football helmets that can help diagnose and report concussions. He showed outstanding leadership through his involvement in the Memorial Student Center. He oversaw the planning, funding and execution of TEDxTAMU in 2018 which is an independently-run TED Conference held here on the Texas A&M campus. This resulted in the Memorial Student Center investing heavily into the TEDxTAMU program. Williamson is also a member of the Texas A&M Chamber Orchestra.
When not in school, he has had several unique internships, including working for BHP Engineering & Construction, L.P. as a field engineer intern within surface engineering, as a defense service engineer for Rolls-Royce and as a summer associate for the Boston Consulting Group. This is only a few of the accomplishments and contributions Williamson has achieved while attending Texas A&M.
Along Williamson's impressive journey, many faculty members have helped paved his way.
“Jon is an outstanding student with natural scientific curiosity and is clearly deserving of this award,” said Dr. Matt Pharr, assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department. “It is obvious to me that he is interested in taking scientific concepts and applying them to do good in the world. I almost expect to see his name in the news sometime for his accomplishments.”
Williamson would like to acknowledge those who have helped him pursue his goals and led him to receive this award.
“Dr. Zohaib Hasnain and Dr. Aakash Tyagi supported my application for this award,” said Williamson. “Other faculty members that mentored me throughout my time at Texas A&M include Dr. Dmitri Loguinov, Dr. Matt Pharr, Dr. Dale Cope and Dr. Shawna Thomas. I was lucky to take courses from each of these professors; each one challenged me and pushed me to become a better engineer. The generous support of many donors, notably Mr. Brown through the Craig and Galen Brown Foundation Scholarship programs and Mrs. Carolyn Lohman through the President’s Endowed Scholar program, allowed me to pursue both degrees concurrently,” said Williamson.
Williamson will graduate in December, leaving Texas A&M to do fantastic things. In the future, he plans to use engineering to impact the lives of many.
“I hope to make an impact through autonomous systems as an engineer in the future,” said Williamson. “I believe that autonomous systems, particularly transportation systems, have the potential to drastically increase society’s efficiency and safety. I am excited to help society shift through shorter, more robust supply chains and decreased amounts of material and energy waste.”