This year’s recipient of the Davidson Family Tau Beta Pi Senior Engineering Cup is Tyler Quill, a graduating materials science and engineering student who has extensive involvement across campus and a clear idea of where he wants to go in life.

The Tau Beta Pi Cup is seen as one of the highest awards an undergraduate engineering student can receive during their time at Tech. It recognizes the selected student for academic excellence, leadership and service and is given during the Institute-wide Student Honors Celebration.

The Tau Beta Pi Cup is supported by the family of Narl Davidson, who served as associate dean in the College of Engineering until 2006. Quill will receive an engraved gold cup and $5,000 in recognition of his accomplishments.

Quill said that he was both honored and humbled when he was notified that he was this year’s recipient.

“Georgia Tech is such a great institution and an amazing school,” said Quill. “There are so many students here that are just outstanding. It means a lot because the students and faculty at Tech are incredible people that I look up to.”

Baratunde Cola, associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, said that he nominated Quill because he has rare combination of intellectual ability, hands-on experience and motivation.

“He is easily one of the most productive undergraduate researchers that I have advised during my time as a professor,” said Cola, who is the director of the NanoEngineered Systems and Transport Lab where Quill did undergraduate research. “His exceptional intelligence, practical knowledge, maturity and enthusiasm make him an extremely strong researcher who is perfectly suited to make a great impact given the proper resources.”

Quill’s involvements in the Tech community have been many and far-reaching, from participation in a freshman leadership organization called the Freshman Activities Board to organizing a sustainability-focused initiative that impacts all Tech’s fraternities and sororities. He also worked heavily with MSE to promote awareness of the lesser-known engineering discipline, and he visits underprivileged schools as part of a program called CoE Champions that educates kids about engineering.

The culmination of his activities was the 2018 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize, where he and a few of his friends showcased their coffee filter, which boasts the unique ability to reduce the harmful acidity of coffee without negatively affecting the taste. Team pHAM, as the group called themselves, won the People’s Choice Award at the recent competition.

“Tyler Quill is an exemplary student who has set the bar high for students to follow,” said Shirley Manchester, academic advisor for the undergraduate MSE program and one of the four faculty and staff members that nominated Quill. “He embodies the characteristics and academic ambitions that makes the Georgia Tech community most proud!”

When Quill graduates, he will be pursuing his Ph.D. in materials science at Stanford. Quill will be “getting out” this May, but he hasn’t had enough of MSE yet.