Missael Garcia Hernandez, an electrical and computer engineering graduate from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, recently was named the recipient of the University’s Outstanding Thesis Award.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Garcia Hernandez is now a Ph.D. student in computer engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and credits his experience at SIUE with giving him the opportunity to go farther than he had expected.
“Moving to another country to start a new life and face new challenges without any guarantees of success was a tough life decision,” he said. “Fortunately for me, the support of extraordinary people like Dr. (Bradley) Noble, my advisor, and friends in the SIUE community made the transition smooth, enriching and enjoyable.
The Outstanding Thesis Award is presented annually to a graduate student whose thesis has been identified as a truly outstanding example of excellence in graduate-level research and writing. Garcia Hernandez will receive a cash prize of $500 and a framed commemorative certificate. In addition, his thesis also will be nominated for the 2014 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award.
“Missael developed a novel approach to the layout of the capacitive sensors so that they would conform to the roof of an arbitrarily shaped mouth,” said Oktay Alkin, chair of the SIUE Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “His work points to a new direction in the area of human-computer interfacing; allows for hands-free control of a computer, and had the potential to lead to new developments that can be especially beneficial for quadriplegics.”
Garcia Hernandez received the award Oct. 30 at the SIUE Graduate School Honors Day Luncheon.