RMCOE – Outstanding Awards

The UC Santa Barbara Robert Mehrabian College of Engineering’s 2026 Undergraduate Commencement is just days away for graduating seniors. The ceremony will take place at 9 AM on Friday, June 12, on Commencement Green. Graduating senior Mohamed Elfouly will be part of a select group of students leading the class of 2026 into the ceremony as standard bearers.

Elfouly earned the opportunity after receiving the Outstanding Senior of Electrical Engineering Award, a recognition for not only having one of the highest grade-point-averages in his graduating cohort, but also for his undergraduate research, leadership, and academic accomplishments during his time at UCSB.

Two more members of the electrical engineering community also received end-of-the-year awards from the class of 2026. Maciek Pajak received the Outstanding Electrical Engineering Teaching Assistant Award, and Clint Schow was named the Outstanding Electrical Engineering Faculty Award recipient.

Outstanding Senior – Mohamed Elfouly

For Mohamed Elfouly, the recognition as Electrical Engineering’s 2026 Outstanding Senior represents both perseverance and the support of the people around him.

“It’s humbling,” Elfouly said. “The recognition feels like validation of the late nights, the hard problems, and the willingness to keep pushing when things got difficult. More than anything, it reflects the people who helped me get here.”

During his time at UCSB, Elfouly served as secretary of UCSB’s Tau Beta Pi chapter and as an officer in the student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He also conducted undergraduate research with professors Clint Schow and Luke Theogarajan, during which time he worked on photonic integrated circuits used in fiber optic communication systems, and on hardware implementations of probabilistic machine learning models.

This summer, Elfouly will intern at NASA before continuing at UCSB through the BS/MS program while interning with local startup Lucidean.

One of his most memorable moments at UCSB came during his team’s senior capstone project.

“My team spent Christmas break finishing our radar-processing chip and submitted it only minutes before the deadline,” he said. “It taught me what it really takes to ship something real under pressure, and it gave me a lasting appreciation for the teammates who struggle alongside you. Then months later, we got out chip back and spent innumerable hours troubleshooting, and now Memorial Day marks perhaps one of my greatest accomplishments: demonstrating our working chip.”

Elfouly credited Schow and Theogarajan for giving him opportunities to conduct meaningful undergraduate research and teaching him how to think independently as an engineer.

Outstanding Teaching Assistant – Maciek Pajak

Enthusiasm and approachability shaped Maciek Pajak’s philosophy as a teaching assistant this year in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

“Personally, I am glad to see that my hard work has had a lasting impression on the students I have taught,” said Pajak, who received the 2026 Outstanding TA Award in Electrical Engineering. “It brings me joy to see my students succeed in the course, and I’m happy that my hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

Originally from London, Canada, Pajak completed his undergraduate degree in nano-technology engineering at the University of Waterloo before pursuing a master’s degree in electronics and photonics at UCSB. This year, he TA’d ECE 132 Introduction to Solid-State Electronic Devices and ECE 120A Integrated Circuit Design and Fabrication.

“I try to make my sections helpful and concise, focusing on the main topics that should be understood within the course,” Pajak said. “I also try to be as enthusiastic as possible because I find that for myself, I learn better that way.”

Pajak’s research focuses on designing and testing optical communication devices for cryogenic environments and data centers, work aimed at advancing next-generation communication technologies.

Outstanding Faculty – Clint Schow

Electrical and computer engineering professor Clint Schow was chosen by graduating seniors to receive the 2025-26 Outstanding Electrical Engineering Faculty Award. This is Schow’s first time receiving the recognition, which he said was both meaningful and unexpected.

“I’m honored, flattered, and truly surprised to receive the award,” Schow said. “I’m never sure how well I’m doing with teaching, but it’s important to me, and it’s amazing to connect with students who are just discovering the possibilities and challenges of ECE.”

Schow said that one of the most rewarding parts of teaching is getting to know students beyond the classroom, particularly through office hours.

“Every quarter, there is a group of regulars who attend office hours, and I love getting to know them and seeing them progress as they complete their degrees at UCSB,” he said.

Because Schow has taught a core sophomore course for the past decade, he said that he has had the opportunity to meet nearly every undergraduate in the program. The class of 2026, he said, has been especially memorable.

“I’ve had the privilege of having four members of this graduating class working in my lab alongside my grad students, and they’ve done amazing work,” Schow said. “I’m proud of the class and think they will do great things as they write their next chapters in industry and academia.”

Schow’s research focuses on closely integrating electronics and photonics to push the boundaries of speed and efficiency for the photonic links and optical networks that data centers and computers increasingly depend upon to share and move data. He joined the UCSB faculty in 2015 and is an elected fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Optica.

His message to the graduates encouraged them to trust their preparation while continuing to grow.

“Use all the skills you have gained and be confident,” Schow said. “Accept challenges and keep learning. Your degree is a strong foundation that you can build upon.”