Outstanding Florida Tech Junior and Outstanding Senior Named at Honors Convocation
MELBOURNE, FLA.—At Florida Institute of Technology’s recent annual Honors Convocation, Brittany Reinard of Newtown, Pa., was named Outstanding Senior and Rian Mehta of Mumbai, India, was named Outstanding Junior for the 2011-2012 academic year. They were chosen by a faculty committee from among those earning Outstanding Junior and Outstanding Senior designations within each academic area.
Reinard, a pre-medical biology major, is an athlete as well. She participates in varsity cross country, and track & field events, and recently completed the USA Triathlon Collegiate Race in Tuskaloosa, Ala. Her memberships include Phi Eta Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi national honor societies; and Tri Beta, the biological science national honor society. She also participates in the pre-med club on campus.
Reinard received Florida Tech’s 2011-2012 Track & Field Female Scholar-Athlete Award and is on the Florida Tech Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for Cross Country, and Track & Field. She received an Academic All-Regional Award in recognition of maintaining a grade point average that places her in the top 30 percent of the region.
Among Reinard’s research experiences have been a biomedical research internship at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Research Institute, conducting research involving the cultivation and identification of the symbiotic microbes in deep-water marine sponges. She has also done screening for the antimicrobial agent Leiodermatolide with the ultimate goal of discovering new therapies for diseases such as cancer for researcher Peter McCarthy. At Florida Tech she has researched how a short-pulse laser could be used to ablate subcutaneous tumors with minimal thermal damage to the surrounding healthy tissue and investigated and helped with the training of wild Burmese pythons, both experiences in the laboratory of Professor of Biological Sciences Michael Grace.
An active volunteer in the medical field, she has worked in the Holmes Regional Medical Center emergency room in Melbourne and in the surgical recovery unit at Saint Mary’s Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa. Her career goal is to become a physician’s assistant.
Mehta, majoring in aviation management with flight, has held a variety of offices in campus organizations. He is currently president of the Order of Omega; administrative vice president of the Inter-Fraternity Council; and founding father and executive committee member of the campus chapter of the fraternity Delta Tau Delta and earned the fraternity’s Kershner Scholarship for academics six consecutive times. He has earned scholarships for his aviation success as well.
He is also a member of the Florida Tech Pilot’s Association, the Phi Eta Sigma national honor society and the American Association of Airport Executives. Mehta has also served as media relations chairman and secretary of the Collegiate Aviation Business Executives. His career goal is to become a pilot with a major airline.
He has participated in intramural water polo and was a member of the 2009 championship team. Mehta also was volleyball team leader, water polo captain and a swimmer for Greek Week 2010-2011.
