AAE senior-to-be Daniel Gochenaur has received the Sigma Gamma Tau Honor Society’s national award.

Daniel Gochenaur

Gochenaur was named the Ammon S. Andes National Award winner, an annual honor given to the aerospace engineering society’s top student.

Nine regional Sigma Gamma Tau Undergraduate Award winners were considered for the national award. Gochenaur will receive the Andes award and $750, in addition to $250 and a plaque as a regional winner.

“It is an honor to be recognized with this award, and I am proud to have been able to represent Purdue at the national level,” Gochenaur said. “I am grateful for the support I have received from my mentors, professors and friends over the last several years. I am especially thankful for my friends Walter Manuel, Rachel Roth, and Jason Kelly for advising me throughout the award’s application process.”

SGT was founded on Purdue’s campus in 1953, merging two existing societies (Tau Omega, 1927, and Gamma Alpha Rho, 1945). Since, the society has grown to 50 collegiate chapters and more than 23,000 initiated members.

Sigma Gamma Tau’s objectives are to recognize and honor individuals in the field of aerospace engineering who have, through scholarship, integrity and outstanding achievement, been a credit to their profession. The society seeks to foster a “high standard of ethics and professional practice and to create a spirit of loyalty and fellowship, particularly among students of aerospace engineering,” according to the society’s constitution. 

“Joining Sigma Gamma Tau has given me the opportunity to meet other students in my major, gain invaluable leadership experience and network with aerospace industry professionals,” said Gochenaur, who has a summer internship lined up as an engineering operations analyst with Boeing’s Virtual Warfare Center in St. Louis. “Through the society I’ve met some of my best friends at Purdue, and I’ve made countless connections to students and professors who have mentored me over the last three years.”