Biomedical engineering 2019 spring commencement student marshal Noah Roberson (center, holding trophy) celebrates the 2019 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championship win with his teammates. (Credit: Penn State Athletics)
Roberson named biomedical engineering student marshal for 2019 spring commencement
4/17/2019
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Noah R. Roberson will be the student marshal for the biomedical engineering baccalaureate degree program at the Penn State College of Engineering’s spring commencement ceremony on May 3. Roberson will receive a bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering, a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering, and a master’s degree in bioengineering through the Schreyer Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate Program.
College of Engineering student marshals are selected for their outstanding academic achievement and contributions to engineering student life. Roberson has chosen William Hancock, professor of biomedical engineering, to be his faculty escort.
A Schreyer Scholar, Roberson completed an undergraduate honors thesis titled, “Simulation-Based Investigation of Femoral Physeal Violations in Adolescent ACL Reconstruction.”
Roberson was a varsity gymnast and a member of the 2019 Big Ten Champion men’s gymnastics team. His love of gymnastics also led in part to his choice of academic pursuit.
“I've been involved with gymnastics my whole life and it’s one of the reasons why I became interested in biomedical engineering,” Roberson said. “In addition, both my parents are physical therapists and they made me very interested in biomechanics and how the body works.”
Roberson’s academic honors include being a two-time winner of the NCAA’s Elite 90 award, which recognizes top athletes who are also high academic achievers; a three-time winner of the Big Ten All-America Scholar Athlete award; a three-time College Gymnastics Association First Team All-America Scholar Athlete; and earned both the President Sparks Award and the Evan Pugh Scholar Award. He was the recipient of the Owen Robert Jones Scholarship Fund, the Philip and Barbara Schumacher Scholarship, and the Schreyer Academic Excellence Scholarship. He has maintained a 4.0 GPA.
Roberson had two internships, one as a mechanical engineering intern with Delphi Automotive, and the other as a research and development mechanical engineering intern with Stryker Orthopedics.
“Noah is one of the most impressive students, undergraduate or graduate, that I have worked with at Penn State. In all three of our interactions, he excelled,” Spencer Szczesny, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, said. “His senior design team won second place overall out of about 90 teams, largely due to his diligence, organization skills and effort. He was one of the top two students in my BME 497 Special Topics class, which included both undergraduate and graduate students. Additionally, his thesis research was outstanding in terms of its complexity, attention to detail, and execution.
Szczesny continued, “Even more impressive is that he excelled in his coursework and research while also competing as a varsity gymnast.”
Roberson’s additional extracurricular activities included the Athletic Director's Leadership Institute, where he was named an Emerging Leader for 2017 and a Veteran Leader for 2018-2019.
Roberson is the son of Joelle and Michael Roberson of Williamsville, NY and is a 2014 graduate of Williamsville High School South.
Following graduation, Roberson will be employed by the place of his second internship, Stryker Orthopedics, where he will work as an associate project engineer.
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