Recent electrical engineering graduate Jonathan Goldnau-Vogt (BEng/17) has been named as the recipient of the 2017 W.E. Cowie Innovation Award. Established in 2006 by Alexandra Cowie in memory of her husband Wilbur Elliot Cowie, the award recognizes creativity in engineering and encourages outgoing students to flourish and employ their talents for humanity’s benefit.
Valued at $10,000, the prize is awarded annually on the recommendation of the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design to a single student or team of students in the final year of a Bachelor of Engineering degree who demonstrates exceptional innovation in engineering.
Throughout his time as an undergrad at Carleton, Goldnau-Vogt exhibited strong interdisciplinary interests, engaging in both curricular and extracurricular projects focused on electrical and mechanical engineering principles and applications. From an autonomous quadcopter to a self-balancing robot, Goldnau-Vogt continually displayed high levels of skill and innovative work across multiple projects.
From 2014-2016, he was a member of Carleton’s CanSat team, contributing to the development and launch of aerospace systems for the NASA-sponsored CanSat competition held annually in Burkett, Texas. Competing against university and college engineering teams from around the world, Goldnau-Vogt helped to propel his team to third and second place finishes in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
In his final undergraduate year, Goldnau-Vogt worked as part of a small Capstone team to develop Shifty, a specialized bicycle transmission system that anticipates and reacts to environmental changes by automatically shifting gears for the rider. The team behind Shifty was presented with the inaugural March Networks Industry Choice Award at the Faculty of Engineering and Design’s 2017 Innovation Expo.
