Manhattan College Professor, Honored with Chair’s Award from Prominent Engineering Organization

Manhattan College proudly announced that Dr. Walter Saukin, a faculty member in its School of Engineering for over 40 years, was selected for the Chair’s Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC-NY). The recognition honors Saukin for “…his commitment to introducing young learners to the science of engineering through his never-ending energy and diligent work in the engineering industry.”

Saukin’s accomplishments within the engineering community are legendary – from serving as Executive Secretary of the New York Water Environment Association and being elected to its Hall of Fame, to serving on the Academic Advisory Board of the Bronx Engineering and Technical Academy (BETA), and to serving on the Advisory Board of the Yonkers School System. But, along with his decades of teaching engineering students at Manhattan College, it is his commitment to the creation of high school outreach programs for recruiting and developing students’ passions for engineering over the past four decades that truly epitomize Saukin’s ability to reach out to young people and instill in them a love of engineering and, by extension, all the STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) subjects.

The current high school programs, held during summers on the Manhattan College campus, draw 120 students from an application pool of approximately 600 – with a particular focus on young women and minority students. Historically, 84% of those students who participate in the program enter the engineering industry and 97% study one of the STEM subjects in college. The opening day of the sessions bring both students and their parents to Manhattan College to get an in-depth feel for the entire program.  The program’s faculty come from the ranks of Manhattan College’s highly-regarded School of Engineering along with representatives from many of New York’s leading engineering firms.

Said Dr. Saukin, “I want to give students a solid understanding of the engineering world, but I also want to give them a life perspective. As someone who grew up in the South Bronx with immigrant parents who had little formal education, I know how empowering education is. Learning how to learn is the key to so much in life.”

Milo Riverso, Ph.D., P.E. President of Manhattan College and an engineering alum of the School, said, “Having a teacher such as Walter is an extraordinary opportunity. His passion, his humor, his love of learning, and his love of athletics is infectious. Every student who is in one of his classes – be it high school or college – is so fortunate.”

The Manhattan College Summer Engineering Awareness Program will be in full-swing again this year with three sessions throughout the summer beginning at the end of June and going through the end of July.