The electrical engineering senior has received Tech’s top academic honor for graduating students in 2025.
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From backcountry adventures to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere, James Shin has never been afraid to push his limits.
Now, the electrical engineering major from Richmond Hill, Georgia, has earned one of Georgia Tech’s highest honors for graduating students: the 2025 Love Family Foundation Award. It’s presented each spring to the student with the most outstanding scholastic record.
Shin’s journey has been shaped by a passion for space, an insatiable curiosity for electronics, and a commitment to serving others — on campus and far beyond.
Chasing a Lifelong Dream
When Shin arrived at Tech, he was set on studying aerospace engineering. But after a year and a half taking courses and working on rockets with the Yellow Jacket Space Program, his interests began to shift.
“I realized that I wanted to impact the space industry through electrical engineering, which has this incredible ability to bring things to life,” he said. “From robotics to wireless communications to circuits, I am always blown away by our ability to harness something as minute as an electron to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. And there’s something special about being able to receive an image from a satellite millions of miles away.”
James Shin and two members of the Love family. Shin accepted the Love Family Foundation Award at the Student Honors April 24. (Photo: Emily Creager)
That curiosity led him to John Cressler’s research group in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, where he dove into the study of extreme-environment electronics. His work took him to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Naval Research Lab, where he studied circuits and devices to understand their interactions with the intense radiation of space.
Meanwhile, Cressler became an important mentor, Shin said: “He’s expanded my potential as a researcher and engineer while ensuring that I don’t forget some of the most important things in life: community, family, and health. His mentorship within the lab and outside has been transformative.”
Adventures That Build Leaders
Beyond labs and lectures, Shin has found growth in more rugged environments.
He’s a volunteer rock climbing instructor with Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech (ORGT) and has traveled to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for canoeing and backpacking expeditions. He’s also leading an Academic Search for Knowledge trip to Japan for other Stamps President’s Scholars. He credits those experiences with sharpening his resilience, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
In his first year at Tech, Shin joined SEED, a leadership program focused on embracing discomfort as a path to personal growth. The experience left such a mark that he returned as a mentor in his second year.
“I've learned to intentionally seek out, embrace, and welcome discomfort as a catalyst for personal growth. In doing so, I've been able to expand my leadership and social impact,” he said. “I was determined to share these lessons.”
Shin also helped establish a campus chapter of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). It continues efforts he began in high school that were inspired by friends who battled blood cancers. He has worked to grow NMDP’s donor registry and raise awareness about lifesaving blood stem cell transplants. The student chapter means that work will continue at Tech beyond Shin’s graduation.
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Shin after summiting Mount Adams in Washington state.
Shin paddling a canoe on Lake Bowron in British Columbia, Canada. (Photos Courtesy: James Shin)
Where Engineering Meets Policy
Now Shin is looking ahead toward graduate school, where he’ll dig more deeply into his dual space-related interests in policy and extreme-environment electronics. He credited a class with postdoctoral fellow Thomas González Roberts and a mentoring relationship that followed for expanding his interest in space to include the policy aspects.
“The bridge between technology and the people it aims to impact is policy,” he said. “I’m drawn to space policy so I can directly impact the lives of people and communities that stand to benefit from space technology.”
Earlier this year, Shin was named a Marshall Scholar, which will enable him to continue pursuing this blend of technology and service in the U.K. He’ll pursue a physics master’s at Cambridge, researching photovoltaics for space applications, alongside a master’s in public policy at Oxford. He hopes to combine these disciplines in a future Ph.D. in electrical engineering, where he can continue contributing to both cutting-edge research and public decision-making.
Shin is quick to point out that his success has been made possible by others. He credits mentors like Cressler, the community of the Stamps President’s Scholars Program, and the broader Georgia Tech network for helping him thrive.
“I’m humbled and honored to be selected for the Love Award,” Shin said. “I see it as a testament to the time and knowledge poured into me from my mentors, the support of my friends and family, and the strength of my communities. The award motivates me to continue pushing the limits of my knowledge and serves as a constant reminder to pay it forward.”
Whether he’s designing radiation-resistant electronics, researching sustainable space policy, or leading students up a granite cliff, Shin is always finding new ways to go further.
And he’s just getting started.
The Love Family Foundation Award is made possible through the support of the Love Family Foundation. Learn more about philanthropy at Georgia Tech by visiting transformingtomorrow.gatech.edu.
Transforming Tomorrow: The Campaign for Georgia Tech is a more than $2 billion comprehensive campaign designed to secure resources that will advance the Institute and its impact — on people’s lives, on the way we work together to create innovative solutions, and on our world — for decades to come.
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