Nearly 100 of the college's hardworking students received gold and silver medallions from their department chairs at an Oct. 29 ceremony launching the new Academic Progress Achievement Medallion Program.

"It is important not only to encourage and applaud our students' timely progress toward their degrees," said the college's dean, S.T. Mau, "but also to reward those who achieve significant progress."

The top 11 gold and silver medallion winners were each presented with Scholastic Excellence Awards in the amount of $500. The money was contributed by Delta Tau Data Systems, Carole Morton Trust, Edwards Air Force Base, Easton Sports, Budlong and Associates and Mau, all members of the college's Industrial Advisory Board.

Gold medallion winners receiving the highest honors earned grade point averages (GPAs) ranging from 3.93 to 4.0 for 33 to 38 units toward a degree in a 12-month period. The highest achieving silver medallion winners earned GPAs ranging from 3.91 to 4.0 for 26 to 28 units toward a degree within the same time frame.

Presented with the $500 Scholastic Excellence Awards were (in alphabetical order): Salvador Dorado, a civil engineering major; Brett Grunert, civil engineering; Ramiel Jacob, mechanical engineering; Arthur Mnatsakanyan, civil engineering; Chris Norman, civil engineering; Amanpreet Sherwal, computer science; Chris Stimson, mechanical engineering; Michael Ubowski, mechanical engineering; Paul Ulman, electrical engineering; Rishi Unadkat, electrical engineering, and Junsheng Yang, electrical engineering.

To qualify for the medallions, earned units must be from courses in one of the college's degree programs. During the 12-month period prior to the current semester, the minimum number of units earned was 25.