CEC student Anderson Grooms M.S. '25 recognized as one of Aviation Week's "20 Twenties"
His graduate thesis research on combined radar and communication signals helped earn him a spot on the prestigious list.
CEC student Anderson Grooms M.S. '25 recognized as one of Aviation Week's "20 Twenties"
Every year, awards 20 undergraduate or master's degree students a spot on the list. This program is designed to honor students who are working to solve challenges within the aviation, aerospace, and defense industries. Students are nominated and then judged by a panel of hiring managers and engineers based on the students' academic performance, civic contribution, personal challenges, and the value of their research or design project.
This year, 90 students received nominations across 46 universities and 14 countries. Anderson "Sonny" Grooms, a College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) graduate student working on his Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering, was selected to be a part of the 20 Twenties Class of 2025. CEC News has had the opportunity to talk with Grooms about this achievement.
What work of yours do you feel led you to be nominated for, and ultimately receive, this honor?
The work of mine that I feel led to receiving this honor is my master’s thesis research into combined radar and communication signals. The usable frequency spectrum is under a lot of strain with everything from phones to radar demanding usage of it. This causes a lot of issues with how to allocate the spectrum and finding enough space for everyone. My research focuses on creating signals that can perform multiple functionalities simultaneously, specifically dual-use radar and communication signals. This limits the number of signals required to operate in a given space and reduces issues with multiple signals interfering with each other. I think this research fits with what Aviation Week is looking for, solutions to broad problems with potential benefits to a large number of people.
How has faculty supported you in your work and research? Has anyone or anything else been a support to you in your work?
I could never have gotten where I am today without an enormous amount of support. Dr. Cheng, firstly, deserves recognition as the faculty member who nominated me. It is only through his confidence in my work that I was nominated for this award. My research advisor Dr. Garmatyuk also deserves recognition as he has really pushed me to make my research something special. My undergrad advisor, Dr. Scott, also needs to be mentioned as I never would have made it to doing graduate research without him. He has spent more time helping me with projects and answering my questions than I deserve and for that I am eternally grateful. Lastly, I need to thank my family who have supported me and pushed me from day one. My parents have always done everything they can to support my interests and they deserve so much credit for helping to cultivate my love of engineering and just problem-solving in general.
How does it feel to receive this honor?
It is incredibly exciting to receive this honor. Whenever I am working on a project doing research, I get really invested. I really love what I do so it’s easy for me to think that what I’m doing is really valuable and interesting. There comes a point, though, if you work on a project long enough, where you start to question whether you’re looking through rose-colored glasses and whether your work has any value. This award means a lot because it shows that it’s not just me. Other people see value in my research and that is extremely motivating.
When do you graduate? What are your plans post-graduation?
I will be graduating in May of 2025 and will start working full-time at in Ashland, Ohio. They do contract engineering and are really up-and-coming in the area of drone tech. I have been working there part time since the fall and it’s really been my dream job. Every day I go into work, I get paid to make stuff and solve problems and I really couldn’t ask for more.