In conjunction with National Student Employment Week, Hopkins Student Employment Services selected junior Bryant Smith as the undergraduate student employee of the year and David Hung as the graduate student employee of the year yesterday.
Smith, a research assistant at a cancer lab, and Hung, who works at the Digital Media Center (DMC), were chosen from among 4,300 student workers at Hopkins and 34 nominees for the award. They were chosen based on their "initiative, reliability, quality of work, disposition and contribution to their employer," according to Student Employment Services.
Smith, a chemical and biomolecular engineering major, has worked as a lab assistant in the Head and Neck Cancer Research Lab of the Hopkins School of Medicine since September 2008.
"Among many other duties, he organizes lab equipment and notebooks, does inventories, clean equipment and deals with maintenance," Simy Buckwold, head of the Cancer Research Lab said.
It is the way Smith approaches these tasks that has impressed his employers.
"He is a hard worker and responsible. He get things done," she said. "He is excellent at doing inventories. He categorizes things by year and has a scientific mind in organizing lab notebooks and slides."
Smith said he enjoys working at the lab because he is constantly being faced with new tasks.
His most memorable moment came when he drew up blueprints for a new laboratory room.
"When the people from the lab told us that they needed blueprints for a new room, I took a tape measure, made some measurements, and I thought that with my engineering background, I could make some blueprints of a new lab room on the MS Paint program," he said.
"They eventually improved on my design on a more advance computer program, but it was an interesting experience," Smith said with a chuckle.
David Hung brings the same level of excitement and ingenuity to his job at the DMC.
"David is one of the most conscientious people I've ever met," his employer Joan Freedman said. "He is a great student leader. He is creative, a wonderful problem solver and an incredible people person."
Hung has worked for the DMC for five years since his sophomore year.
In that time, he has been engaged in many unique endeavors on campus.
"We started a student poster printing business in the DMC. David took over the entire printing business, purchases ink and paper and tracked how many posters the students made," Freedman said.
Hung also used his digital media and engineering skills to create logos and billboards. He is also mapped out the Decker Quad for Google Earth.
"Before David did the mapping, the Decker Quad was shown as an empty parking lot on Google Earth," Freedman said.
Hung used a digital camera and a helium balloon with a sensor on it to take aerial pictures of the Quad.
Hung and Smith were awarded plaques from President Ron Daniels, $500 in gift certificates and a chance to compete for the Regional Student Employee of the Year.
Hung has already won the Northeast Regional Graduate Student Employee of the Year and is in line to compete for National Graduate Student Employee of the Year.
Along with the two student employees, Frank Robinson, the director of campus safety and security, was recognized as the Employer of the Year.
The runner-up student employee of the year is senior Sarah Kim.
The runner-up graduate student employee of the year is Abdulgafoor M. Bacharri.
Anne Irwin, fitness and weight room supervisor in the recreational center, was runner-up employer of the year.
Celebrating National Student Employment week, a number of prizes and events have been sponsored by corporations like M&T Bank.
"It puts student employment at the forefront," D. Lynn O'Neil, director of Student Employment Services said.
"With a part-time job, students learn many necessary values for work in the future. A job gives you the opportunity to apply what you learn in class, teach you things you don't learn in the classroom to enhance your perspective on life."
