{"id":7660,"date":"2026-06-10T15:38:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/?p=7660"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:38:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:38:34","slug":"andrew-frechette-receives-academic-excellence-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2026\/andrew-frechette-receives-academic-excellence-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Frechette receives Academic Excellence Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Don\u2019t be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>afraid to ask questions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>too stubborn to ask for help<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Those are the two key lessons Academic Excellence Award Recipient and Mechanical Engineering graduate Andrew Frechette learned throughout his four years at Dunwoody College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always been the kind of person who likes to take things apart to learn how it works, and that goes well with a hands-on education like the one you get at Dunwoody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frechette was familiar with the College, having had a great-grandfather attend for Welding, but it wasn\u2019t until after he toured the campus that he knew it was going to be a good fit for him, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was drawn to the Mechanical Engineering program \u2014 not only because of the variety of subjects he would get to study, but also due to the collaborative environment he would get to be involved in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat I enjoyed most about my time at Dunwoody would have to be the connection I have made with my peers and instructors. They have made the experience excellent and helped me learn so much,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom the instructors to the facilities and curriculum \u2014 the experience you get at Dunwoody won\u2019t be like anything you will find at another university.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAndrew is always ready to come to class and is actively engaged in his learning, willing to help other students,\u201d said Associate Professor Jonathan Aurand. \u201cHe is constantly going above and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Receiving the Academic Excellence Award this spring meant a great deal to Frechette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt meant that the hard work and countless late nights I have had in the last four years hasn\u2019t been for nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve learned a host of unique skills related to my field \u2014 CAD modeling, circuits, programming, control systems \u2014 but by far the biggest lesson I\u2019ve learned is perseverance. Never quit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Projects like his Senior Capstone were a highlight, allowing Frechette and his classmates to collaborate with faculty and sponsors while refining and applying skills they were developing throughout their course of study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the type of real-world projects that help to build skills for the workforce. And Frechette already has his foot in the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI currently have an internship at a company called MFT Automation in White Bear Lake and have a full-time position waiting for me when I graduate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is looking forward to future working in automation: \u201cI hope to improve the lives of others through the designs that I make in the engineering field \u2014 creating systems that automate processes that have yet to be automated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don\u2019t be: Those are the two key lessons Academic Excellence Award Recipient and Mechanical Engineering graduate Andrew Frechette learned throughout his four years at Dunwoody College. \u201cI\u2019ve always been the kind of person who likes to take things apart to learn how it works, and that goes well with a hands-on education like the one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[363],"tags":[296,295],"class_list":["post-7660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-excellence-award","tag-mechanical-engineering","tag-school-of-engineering"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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