UPE Honor Society
Gamma Chapter at Colorado Mesa University
Founded in 1967, UPE (Upsilon Pi Epsilon) is the first and only, existing international honor society in the Computing and Information disciplines. UPE is officially recognized by ACM and IEEE Computer Society.
The mission of UPE is to recognize academic excellence at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the Computing and Information Disciplines.
The application for starting a new chapter at CMU was approved and the charter ceremony was held in the Spring of 2004. Since, the local Gamma chapter became official, it has inducted dozens of students from computing disciplines every year.
Computer Science students meeting the UPE membership requirements (upper 35% of the class and GPA of >= 3.0/4.0, good moral character, etc.) are formally invited by the department to become a member once a year. The qualified candidates are invited only once at each academic level. The interested candidate must accept, pay one-time life-time membership fee of $60 and attend the initiation ceremony to become a member.
UPE Membership Benefits
- 1st year UPE student members get ACM student membership for free.
- UPE student members can apply for several scholarships.
For more information about the activities, benefits and the mission of UPE, visit https://upe.acm.org/.
UPE Success Stories
- Drake Cullen - 2022 UPE Executive Council Award ($2,500 Cash Award)
- Bryn C. Loftness - 2020 UPE Scholar of the Year Award ($3,000 Cash Award) - One of the two highest scholarship awards and are presented to applicants who, in the eyes of the Executive Council, were the most outstanding applicants in 2020.
- Matthew J. Behnke - 2020 UPE Academic Achievement Award ($1,500 Cash Award)
- Brandon Foss - 2016 UPE Scholarship Award ($500 Cash Award)
Current Chapter Officials
- Ram B. Basnet, PhD - Faculty Adviser
- Mia Weber - Upsilon
- Peter Campbell - Pi
- Kyle Verbrugge - Epsilon
If you have questions about the UPE Gamma Chapter at Colorado Mesa University, email faculty advisor Dr. Ram Basnet ([email protected]).
Initiation Ceremony at UPE Gamma Chapter
The 11th initiation ceremony was conducted on April 30, 2024, at the Confluence Hall.
Chapter Officials
- Ram B. Basnet, PhD - Faculty Adviser
- Mia Weber - Upsilon
- Peter Campbell - Pi
- Kyle Verbrugge - Epsilon
Student Initiates
- Abraham Avila
- Peter Campbell
- Jordan Dehmel
- Justin Garces
- Renee Rudderow
- Jack Swelstad
- Dejan Urbanek
- Kyle Verbrugge
The 10th initiation ceremony was conducted on April 21, 2023, at the Confluence Hall.
Chapter Officials
- Ram B. Basnet, PhD - Faculty Adviser
- Drake Cullen - Upsilon
- Mia Weber - Pi
- Darrin Miller - Epsilon
Student Initiates
- Amber Church
- Zackary Mason
- Darrin Miller
- Jacob Troescher
- Mia Weber
The 9th initiation ceremony was conducted on April 27, 2022 at the Maverick Innovation Center.
Chapter Officials
- Ram Basnet, PhD - Faculty Adviser
- Drake Cullen - President/Upsilon
- Nathan Briner - Vice President/Pi
- Katelynn Schwerdtfeger - Secretary/Epsilon
Student Initiates
- Antoun, Alexander
- Bravo, Mario
- Briner, Nathan
- Cullen, Drake
- Hansen, Jacob
- Jessop, William
- Kohlbrecher, Blake
- Loya, Derric
- Montoni-Tiller, Matthew
- Roed, Torbjorn
- Sherpa, Sonia
- Williams, Bailey
The initiation ceremony was conducted on October 29, 2020 at the Maverick Innovation Center.
Chapter Officials
- Ram Basnet, PhD - Faculty Sponsor
- Clayton P. Johnson - President/Upsilon
- Bryn Loftness - Vice President/Pi
- Matthew Behnke - Secretary/Epsilon
New Faculty Initiates
- Sherine Antoun, PhD
- Scott Kessler, PhD
Student Initiates
- Gillen, Nicholas
- Holland, Jesse W
- Panta, Rupesh
- Peterson, Zachary A
- Schmidt, Andrew P
- Schwerdtfeger, Katelynn R
- Sutherland, Duval T
- Thammavong, Christie
The initiation ceremony was conducted on April 18, 2019 at the Maverick Innovation Center.
Chapter Officials
- Ram Basnet, PhD - Faculty Sponsor
- James E. Mathson - President/Upsilon
- Clayton P. Johnson - Vice President/Pi
- Jeana A. Altura - Secretary/Epsilon
Student Initiates
- Jeana Altura
- Karen Angeles
- Matthew Behnke
- Taylor Bradshaw
- Angeline Fletcher
- Emerson Flom
- Kellie Larson
- Bryn Loftness
- Scott Sean Lowe
- Andrew Plechota
- Janina Pohorecki
- Victoria Riggs
- Riad Shash
The initiation ceremony was conducted on April 26, 2018 at the Maverick Innovation Center.
Chapter Officials
- Ram Basnet, PhD - Faculty Sponsor
- Douglas Plock - President/Upsilon
- Kaitlin Stark - Vice President/Pi
- Warren Story - Secretary/Epsilon
Student Initiates
- Daniel Allen
- Candace Graus
- Clayton Johnson
- Marcus Johnson
- Joshua Mathews
- James Mathson
- Richard Sterling
- Warren Story