2009 Woodie Flowers Finalist Award Nominee: Carl Agnew

"Do it," the calm, determined, and perseverant motto of Carl Agnew, epitomises his attitude toward everything he does. After students on Team 461 meet Carl Agnew, their lives will never be the same. Carl’s contagious passion for science and engineering is a fundamental driving force behind our team. He is simply an incredible part of the heart and soul of Westside Boiler Invasion, always encouraging every one of us to succeed no matter the task.

Despite his extensive accomplishments with Team 461, Carl doesn’t boast about his past. His thoughts seem to be always focused on what he can do for the people and the team he loves. Despite Carl’s modesty, there is no shortage of students who have witnessed his passion for helping others. This year, Carl is officially a mentor on the shooting mechanism sub team, but that does not stop him from doing everything he could to make sure every sub team got the help they needed to get their jobs done. He is always active, helping design in Inventor, making suggestions on how to build a new animation rendering computer, or even helping revise the Chairman’s Award submission. According to Joe Brennan, the captain of the animation team, "Although Carl is not directly associated with the animation team, he shows genuine interest and enthusiasm in the progress of each animated production…. He is encouraging and displays excitement about seeing each final production." Carl has also constructed a website that is used to track attendance and provide information about meeting times and locations.

Carl doesn’t just put in a few hours to help the team, he sacrifices most of his free time and is always at meetings before they begin and long after they end. No one would blame Carl for spending less time with the team; he is a member of a folk-rock band, works full time at the COOK Med Institute, and until last semester, attended classes part-time at Purdue. Carl works to inspire students and make everyone’s experience just as memorable as his own.

Carl Agnew has shaped Westside Boiler Invasion’s history over ten years, but through it all, he still manages to be the same old Carl, always there and always ready to help. Suzanna Schuster, a programmer and four-year member, best captures Carl’s qualities: "regardless of the time, or work to be done, Carl is always there to help. Even in the off-season, he is willing to put in hours to make our team the best it can be. Despite not being a programmer himself, Carl spent hours on end helping the programming team work out flaws in the autonomous mode during the summer. No aspect of the team slips through the cracks with Carl."

Carl’s dedication to the team is obvious. It is impossible to find a stack of team pictures that doesn’t include him. "Cagnew," as he is affectionately called, has been with the team for eight of the ten years since its inception, as a student, college mentor and even now as an engineer with a full-time job. Not only does he attend every meeting to share his technical expertise, he makes it a habit to stay involved in our day-to-day lives. Carl is often willing to hang out with students on the team and offer advice on any dilemma we might be facing. According to junior Nitesh Bajaj, "Carl makes sure I have a ride after every meeting, offers me advice on my plans for college and my future. He is always there to give anyone advice on classes to take or just help with difficult homework."