8/14/2019 Elizabeth Wailes Letter of Rec Fall09 v2

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Elizabeth Wailes has been my student in two undergraduate freshmen engineering classes

and the terminal electrical engineering course for her major, which is taken in the junior

year. She performed exceptionally well, earning a high A in each course.

In terms of academic performance and ability, Elizabeth has been consistently one of the

best students in my classes. Her performance in projects, assignments, discussions andother class activities are always superior to most other students. She has an excellent

ability to focus on any project, lab experiment, or anything else that interests her, and

follow it through with optimal results. From my experience with her in the three classes,each of which has a lab component, she has the ability to look at a problem and be very

creative with her solution. She always brings a new and fresh perspective to the problems

and projects in which she is involved, and it is clear that she takes pride in her work.

Her creative thinking and hard work has already won her accolades. One of my classes

final projects requires students to design, build and program a robot to autonomously

navigate through a maze. Most students used the touch sensors that the teaching assistant

proffered. Elizabeth, however, used a sonar sensor. The increased difficulty of thisendeavor was rewarded when her robot successfully completed the course in roughly

one-third of the time that the other students robots required.

Elizabeth consistently rises above her peers when communicating the results of her work.

Her time at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has yielded practical

training in both the content and delivery of technical presentations. While other studentspresentations are often a laundry list of the teaching assistants requirements, Elizabeth

takes care to showcase the material in a manner that highlights not only the take-home

message but also its relevance.

In an effort to advance both her experience and knowledge, she became a member ofIEEE and SWE (the Society of Women Engineers) early in her undergraduate career. Shehas always had a very clear vision of what she wants to do and she actively pursues her

goals by sharpening her skill set. I have seen her many times with other students,

particularly in lab, involved in group discussion and solving problems with her team. Shehas become an adept programmer and my classes have given her extensive experience in

Matlab, interactive C languages, and robotics.

Even when she was a freshman, Elizabeth clearly demonstrated that she is capable ofperforming many engineering tasks with minimal supervision. She has continued to hone

her skills and is now a formidable engineer. I believe that her potential will continue to

grow as she pursues graduate study and I anticipate that she will have a very productivecareer. I strongly and without any reservation recommend her.

Shahrokh Ahmadi, Ph.D.Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

The George Washington University

801 22nd St. NW.

Washington, D.C. 20052