[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Weiker.jpg”]”University for me was one little adventure after another,” says Phillip Weicker, an electrical engineering graduand and Governor General's Academic Medal winner. “It's hard to pinpoint one special moment. I loved it all. I was at school all the time and I loved it all.”

Weicker graduates today (June 1) and will receive the medal for the highest grade point average among McMaster students graduating from a baccalaureate degree program in 2001. He achieved an 11.9 grade point average out of a possible 12 for seven terms, scoring a perfect 12 in two consecutive years of study.

“I worked hard to manage my time while at Mac, but I'm not exceptionally diligent,” says Weicker. “You can't study all the time. There has to be some other outlet. The academic side and the social side are both important.”

Weicker's involvement in student activities, his design talents and his leadership skills earned him the Image of an Engineer Award earlier this year.

“I started off at McMaster pretty timidly,” says the award winner, “but as time passed I got more involved.” He was captain of the Concrete Toboggan Team in 1999-2000 and led his fellow engineering students to a ninth-place finish at the annual national competition. He served as a technical consultant for the McMaster Solar Car Project and designed all the electrical systems for the CarPool, a driveable hot tub converted from a 1982 Chevrolet Malibu. He served the McMaster Engineering Society as student service co-odinator, public relations director and Orientation committee member.

Weicker promoted the Engineering Olympics and student charity drives such as the Cystic Fibrosis Bus Pull. He was a singer and bass guitarist for the McMaster Engineering Musical and a contributor to several publications. He was both a tutor and teaching assistant for Level I students.

He has received the A. H. Atkinson, the Harry Lyman Hooker, and the Ontario Hydro scholarships. He received the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario Scholarship (1998-2000) for the highest full-load average within the Faculty of Engineering.

And where will Weicker end up? “I'll probably be a professor,” says the award winner. He's enrolled at McGill University's Graduate School for September.