Over the past 22 years, the Tower Awards ceremony has celebrated the academic achievements of underrepresented students at Georgia Tech. Of the more than 1,200 students who were eligible to receive a 2016 Tower Award, more than 200 students gathered for the annual recognition ceremony, hosted by OMED: Educational Services, on April 7 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center.

“From interning at NASA to creating The Black Burdell, a nonprofit organization that is changing the face of entrepreneurship, our OMED participants and Tower Awards recipients are defining what’s next at Georgia Tech and beyond, and we applaud their hard work, persistence, and determination,” said OMED Director Cynthia Moore.

Award categories included Ph.D. Awards, Master’s Awards (graduating GPA of 3.5 or higher), Graduating Senior Sustained Awards (cumulative GPA of 3.15 or higher), Sustained Awards (cumulative GPA of 3.15 or higher), Yearly Awards (GPA of 3.15 or higher over the past three semesters), and First-Year Awards (cumulative GPA of 3.15 or higher). Within each award category, except the Ph.D. and Master’s Awards, sub-categories included Bronze (GPA of 3.15-3.49), Silver (GPA of 3.50-3.94), and Gold (GPA of 3.95 or higher).

Two special recognitions were also presented: Georgia Tech Black Alumni Organization Unsung Hero Award and OMED Student Mentor Award. Jasmine Atkinson, an industrial and systems engineering student, received the Unsung Hero Award, and Sergio Sandoval, an aerospace engineering student, was honored with the Student Mentor Award. In addition, both students received a 2016 Tower Award for their outstanding academic performance at Tech.

“OMED is the reason that I was so successful at Georgia Tech,” said Atkinson, who will join Eaton, one of OMED’s corporate partners, after graduation this summer. “From participating in the Challenge Program to serving as a tutor, OMED was my home away from home, and I am honored to receive the Unsung Hero Award for my efforts over the past five years.”

Sandoval, who will be interning at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory this summer, was surprised by the recognition, remarking, “Awards like this help us keep going.”

Part of Institute Diversity, OMED is supported by more than 20 corporate partners and sponsors who attended and provided raffle giveaways at the Tower Awards. Corporate partners include 3M, BP, Eastman, Eaton, John Deere, Northrop Grumman, Procter & Gamble (the sponsor of the Tower Awards recognition ceremony), and Southwire.

To learn more about the Tower Awards, visit www.omed.gatech.edu.