ECU engineering graduate awarded prestigious fellowship
A recent East Carolina University engineering graduate has received a fellowship to support his efforts to get a master’s degree.
Kyle Kirwin, who graduated May 8, has been named a Tau Beta Pi Fellow for 2026, an honor that provides $10,000 to cover educational expenses. Tau Beta Pi is the world’s largest engineering honor society with 259 collegiate chapters and more than 655,000 members. The fellowship recognizes high scholarship, campus leadership and service, and the promise of future contributions to the engineering profession.
Engineering student Kyle Kirwin stands next to Dr. Teresa Ryan, chair of the Department of Engineering, after receiving his outstanding senior medal at the Engineering Capstone Symposium.
Kirwin, from Swedesboro, New Jersey, will be attending the University of Pennsylvania this fall to pursue a master’s in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics.
He said he was grateful to be one of about 30 recipients nationwide for 2026-27.
“Sometimes as an engineer with such a rigorous courseload, it feels as if all the hard work you do throughout your semesters of college goes unnoticed. However, awards like this really make the struggle worth it,” he said. “Graduate school is also financially a burden, so having some flexibility with this fellowship to cover living expenses and tuition will take a huge weight off my shoulders.”
Kirwin specifically pointed to Dr. Ricky Castles, engineering professor and the associate dean for student affairs in the College of Engineering and Technology. Castles serves as the faculty advisor for ECU’s chapter of Tau Beta Pi.
“All the ECU engineering faculty have supported me throughout my four years here,” Kirwin said. “They are all so approachable and care about their students, which allows me to stay successful. I know ECU has prepared me enough to go into the real world and be successful.”
That “real world” is beginning this summer. Kirwin was selected as a Department of Defense SMART Scholar and will be interning with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division. He has guaranteed employment with the center upon completion of his master’s degree as part of the program.
The internship as well as the University of Pennsylvania are not far from his hometown of Swedesboro, New Jersey.
“I am excited to head back close to home and settle into a new environment of city living,” he said.
In his time at ECU, Kirwin helped research acoustics and vibrations at the Coastal Studies Institute at ECU’s Outer Banks Campus in Wanchese, affording him opportunities to present his work at regional and national conferences. He served as an ECU engineering outreach coordinator as well as a tutor, and was selected by faculty as a 2026 outstanding senior. Outside of class, he served as the president of club soccer and on the student executive council for ECU club sports. He was a member of a social Greek organization and led service efforts with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and local street cleanups.
“I just want to emphasize how important applying yourself out of the classroom is,” Kirwin said. “Throughout my four years here, I have had so many once-in-a-lifetime experiences, whether that is living in the Outer Banks for research or traveling to New Mexico, Hawaii and Washington, D.C. This all came from getting out of my shell and getting to know my professors and all my peers. I advise any incoming or current students to reach out to that professor, do that research, join that club, go to that interest meeting because you never know where it will take you, and I can promise you will be a better person after.”