The Undergraduate Researcher of the Year award honors a junior or senior who has demonstrated excellence in undergraduate research through independent inquiry, classes, and student employment.
Robert Jackson Spurling
Robert Jackson is a graduating senior in materials science and engineering at UT. He loves being in the mountains of his native East Tennessee and enjoys cheering on the Vols in Neyland on fall Saturdays. He will pursue a PhD at Penn State to prepare for a career in materials research.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a Volunteer means using the talents, opportunities, and resources I have been given to help others. This is something I have certainly learned as a member of the undergraduate research community at UT. While getting in the lab and using state-of-the-art equipment to tackle scientific problems is certainly engaging, the real motivation lies in the opportunity to develop a better process or product to help address real-world challenges that affect our community right here in Knoxville, in Tennessee, in the United States, and around the globe.
Zachary Orig
Zachary Orig, from Carrollton, Georgia, is a fifth-year architecture student with a minor in sustainability. Throughout architecture school, he developed a passion for design research that was rooted in being inspired by the highly non-architectural. Outside of the studio, he enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing, reading, and drinking coffee.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a Volunteer means being open to new ways of seeing the world around you through understanding vastly different viewpoints from your own. Throughout the past five years, I’ve been led to believe that being a Volunteer means not only accepting those around you through these differences but advocating for them and their right to their own unique voice. UT has empowered me to make a difference by understanding that we cannot operate in the world in our own little bubble nor stop seeking knowledge. Learning, developing empathy, and being open-minded to new ideas is what truly makes a Tennessee Volunteer.