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Ļć½¶Ö±²„Vicksburg-based engineer and grad student receives multi-state award

Ļć½¶Ö±²„Vicksburg-based engineer and grad student receives multi-state award

Contact: Diane Godwin

Diane Hammond (left), president of Gulf Region Intelligent Transportation Society, congratulates Emily Salmon-Wall (right) for her GRITS scholarship. (Photo submitted)

STARKVILLE, Miss.ā€”A Mississippi State research engineer based in Vicksburg who also is a graduate student is receiving a regional honor recognizing her academic and community service achievements.

Emily Salmon-Wall works at the Institute for Systems Engineering Research, a collaborative effort between the university and U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. Her research focuses on enhancing the viability of specific products made by Mississippi companies.

A former Tupelo resident, Wall is among five from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi receiving 2017 scholarships from the Gulf Region Intelligent Transportation Societyā€”GRITS, for short.

While employed in the historic river city, the 2015 summa cum laude Ļć½¶Ö±²„graduate in industrial and systems engineering is pursuing an online masterā€™s degree in the Bagley College of Engineering.

Presenting annual awards of up to $1,500 each, GRITS was founded in 2009 as a three-state chapter of the Washington, D.C.-based Intelligent Transportation Society of America. Members work to provide government, academic and private sector agencies with improved access to advanced transportation technologies. For more, see .

Outside of work and course study, Wall regularly devotes personal time to a local womenā€™s shelter, as well as to Vicksburg Young Professionals, a group supporting personal growth, networking and community service activities for residents ages 21-40.

Additionally, she teaches introductory engineering at both Vicksburg and Warren Central high schools. With academic credit transferring to either Ļć½¶Ö±²„or nearby Alcorn State University, her classes cover the basics of chemical engineering, while providing surveys of other engineering career disciplines.

Steve Puryear, a GRITS board member and a senior research associate at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Extension Office in Canton, said Wallā€™s scholarship is a formal recognition of both her scholastic talents and dedication to helping others.

ā€œGrade-point-average only accounts for 10 percent of our consideration,ā€ Puryear said of the scholarship program. ā€œEffective communication in the essay portion, along with involvement with programs in the community, school clubs, organizations and beyond, prove that a student is concerned with more than just grades.ā€

Wall said she is ā€œgrateful and honored to receive this recognition, and the scholarship will help me cover expenses like supplies and distance-learning fees.ā€ After completing the graduate degree in the spring, ā€œI plan to continue with my studies and eventually get my doctorate in industrial engineering,ā€ she added.

When an undergraduate on the Starkville campus, Wall was tapped for membership in Phi Kappa Phi, the nationā€™s oldest and most prestigious honor society. She also was a consistent inclusion on the Presidentā€™s Scholars List, among other academic recognitions.

Ļć½¶Ö±²„is the stateā€™s leading university, available online at .

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