Mitch Braegelmann, chemical engineering graduate student at the University of North Dakota's School of Engineering and Mines, has been named one of five Laureates by Tau Beta Pi (TBP), the national engineering honor society.  The Laureate program is the association’s annual program to recognize gifted engineering students who have excelled in areas beyond their technical majors.


Braegelmann, a St. Cloud, Minn., native, joins 2008 Laureates from the University of Arizona, University of Florida, University of Wyoming, and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, as well as 60 other remarkable society members who have been named Laureates since 1982.

The Laureates will be honored in October at the 103rd annual Convention to be held in Sacramento, Calif. Braegelmann will receive a $2,500 cash award and a commemorative plaque.  

Braegelmann, graduated from St. Cloud Tech High School in St. Cloud Minnesota. As a captain of UND’s football team, he accumulated many sporting awards, including being named to ESPN The Magazine’s All-America team. He started three seasons on the offensive line for UND’s football team, two years at center, and one at guard. Other awards have included UND offensive lineman of the year in 2006-07.

More than his athletic achievements, Braegelmann has provided many hours of service to his university community, as well as the wider Grand Forks community. 
He has volunteered for the past four winters with Holiday Magic for Marcus, using donated money to buy Christmas presents for children with serious illnesses. When a nearby town was hit by a tornado last spring, he went with other students to help in the cleanup operation.


On the academic front, Braegelmann was inducted into TBP the first semester he was eligible and has maintained his grades ever since. He has been an active chapter member, especially in math tutoring sessions, where chapter members help students with calculus and other math problems. He made the academic first team twice, an achievement for an engineering major, and was sophomore chemical engineer of the year, along with freshman and junior finalist for that award. Mitch’s areas of interest include experimental design, polymer science, and materials and corrosion. He also has been active in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

The Laureate Program exists to further Tau Beta Pi’s second fundamental purpose as stated in the Association’s Constitution:  “ . . . to foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges.”  The primary concern of the society is to recognize students of superior scholarship and exemplary character and to honor eminent practicing engineers.  

The society also encourages excellence in engineering education and in the ethical practice of engineering. Tau Beta Pi, the world’s largest engineering society, has initiated 500,800 members since it was founded in 1885.  Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., the society has 234 active collegiate chapters and 16 active alumnus chapters throughout the country.


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About UND's School of Engineering and Mines: UND SEM is a fully accredited engineering program offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in civil, chemical, electrical, energy, environmental, and mechanical engineering, with undergraduate program concentrations in biomedical, computer and aerospace engineering. The School emphasizes its teaching mission while supporting a wide variety of innovative research in the areas of sustainable energy, bio-fuels, distance learning, unmanned aerial systems, aerospace payload development, remote sensing, engineered surfaces, and hydrogen fuel cell technologies.