The 2015 Outstanding Staff and Teaching Awards were announced Friday, Aug. 21, representing stellar work by individuals in the University of Utah’s College of Engineering.
Dean Richard Brown honored the recipients during his annual fall faculty and staff meeting held this year at the newly-refurbished Rio Tinto Kennecott Mechanical Engineering Building.
Christopher “Kiffer” Creveling is certainly this century’s version of a “Renaissance Man.” He is a member of many honor societies, namely Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honors society. He was an outreach coordinator, a volunteer for the Associated Students of the University of Utah and the Utah Food Bank, and a fundraiser for the Huntsman Cancer Institute. If that weren’t enough, he also was a photographer for the Utah Daily Chronicle and co-captain of the University of Utah water polo team. But with all of those duties, the one responsibility where he has really connected with students was as a teaching assistant in the department of mechanical engineering. In the Strength of Materials class, he did an incredible job running labs, grading lab reports and conducting weekly sessions with students. But he’s done so much more for the department, including creating his own lectures and locating and donating more lab equipment he purchased himself. Thanks to his contagious enthusiasm and outstanding leadership skills, Kiffer has proven to be an invaluable addition to the department. As one professor noted: “Without a doubt he has been the best TA I have ever had because he wants to make the classroom and lab space a better place for students.”
Details at College-wide awards
The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah is committed to providing students with broad-based, rigorous and progressive education. By combining state-of-the-art facilities with renowned faculty, the department provides an education that gives students the necessary skills to become the next generation of innovators.