Contact: Bob Ratliff
John H. Kosko
John H. Kosko of Carrollton is Mississippi State University's Outstanding Engineering Senior for 2001.
A biological engineering major, Kosko will enter the University of Mississippi Medical Center after graduating from MSU in May. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kosko and a 1997 Pillow Academy graduate.
The Outstanding Engineering Senior program is sponsored by the Mississippi Engineering Society. MSU's College of Engineering selects each year's honoree.
Presentation of the award was made at the society's recent state meeting. In his remarks on the program, MSU engineering undergraduate coordinator Robert Green listed some of Kosko's achievements.
Green said that, in addition to maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average, Kosko has found time to participate in non-academic activities ranging from intramural sports to service as a volunteer elementary school tutor.
Kosko also is helping develop a promising medical device, Green said.
"John is actively involved with his [biological engineering] team's senior design project, the development of a low power, wearable electrocardiogram run and monitored by a Palm Pilot computer," Green said. A patent for the device has been applied for and is pending, he added.
"When fully developed, the device will be able to detect signs of an imminent heart attack, access an onboard global positioning sensor and interface with a cell phone to call 911 and give a patient's precise location," Green said.
Kosko is an Ottilie Schillig Leadership Scholar, one of the university's most prestigious honors, and a member of Golden Key, Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi honor societies.