The prestigious John Ericsson Medal is awarded to the top students in each educational area who received a degree of Master of Science in Engineering or Master of Architecture from Chalmers in the year preceding the award.
At Chalmers’ Annual Celebration on 5 November, Jörgen Blennow, Vice President for Education and Lifelong Learning, will present this year’s six John Ericsson Medals.
Here are this year’s recipients and their reflections on their time at Chalmers.
Background to the John Ericsson Medal
John Ericsson was born in Värmland in 1803 and began working as an engineering apprentice on the construction of the Göta Canal at the age of 13. At 24, he settled in England and later in the United States, where he lived until his death in 1889. During his years in England and the United States, John Ericsson achieved great success as an inventor. Some of his best-known inventions are a tubular steam boiler used in the Novelty locomotive, a propeller and the warship Monitor.
The medal was established in John Ericsson’s memory in 1897 following a collection that raised SEK 4,317. The initiative was taken by Chalmers student Claes Adolf Adelsköld. Most of the returns were to be used for scholarships, and a smaller portion for medals bearing John Ericsson’s likeness, to be awarded at graduation to ‘deserving students at the institution’.
The medal is awarded to the top students in each educational area
Since 2012, six John Ericsson Medals have been awarded annually to students who received a degree of Master of Science in Engineering or Master of Architecture from Chalmers in the year preceding the award. Three medals are awarded to students in the MATS and ASAM educational areas, and three to students in EDIT-I and KFM. The results of everyone who graduated in the preceding year are considered. To be eligible, students must have completed at least 210 credits included in their degree at Chalmers, have a weighted grade average of at least 4.75 and have studied at a rate of at least 0.9 relative to full-time study, excluding breaks in their studies. All these requirements apply to the degree awarded.
Only courses completed and assessed at Chalmers that form part of the awarded degree are included in the calculation of the weighted grade average. Courses credited from another higher education institution and courses taken at Chalmers outside the degree are therefore excluded. Of the six medals awarded, three must go to students from the MATS and ASAM educational areas and three to students from KFM and EDITI.
An additional medal may be awarded in special circumstances. No more than two medals may be awarded to students from the same undergraduate programme, and no more than one to students from the same master’s programme. As graded marks are less common in the Architecture and Architecture and Engineering programmes, it is less appropriate to select recipients from these programmes on the basis of their weighted grade average. The programme management teams must therefore have the opportunity to nominate a recipient instead. Nominees must have merits equivalent to the criteria for other programmes. If candidates have equal merits, the recipient is chosen by lot. Decisions on the award of the John Ericsson Medal cannot be appealed.