Nilkumar ‘Nil’ Patel named ATC 2017 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership recipient

ALBANY — Nilkumar “Nil” Patel was named the 2017 Albany Technical College Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) winner Thursday during the Albany Rotary Club’s weekly meeting. Patel, an Electronics and Engineering Technology student, will represent ATC as this year’s GOAL Student of the Year.

Patel was nominated for the program by his Engineering Technology instructor at Albany Tech, Dennis Courtney, who cited Patel as a student demonstrating superior academic performance and remarkable leadership abilities in the classroom and the community.

During a banquet held in November, five nominees for GOAL were presented: Lise Adams-Mason (Environmental Horticulture); Travis Apperson (Electronics and Engineering Technology); Jamekia Collins (Law Enforcement Technology); Tonyari Scott (Electronics and Engineering Technology), and Patel.

The final three GOAL nominees were interviewed by a panel comprising members of the Albany Chamber of Commerce last week. Those finalists were Adams-Mason, Collins and Patel.

Patel said he plans to attend a major four-year university after graduation and has a three-step plan for the future.

“In order for me to be successful in life, I have to do three things,” Patel said. “No. 1, I will have to have a passion for something. No. 2, I have to have the mindset to do it. And, No.3, I have to have the determination to finish what I started. I believe my passion and leadership have made me who I am today.”

An active member and captain of Albany Tech’s Titan Alliance Robotics Team, Patel has dedicated many hours to community outreach by helping students and adults learn about STEM careers in design, construction and computer programming. He was instrumental in establishing a robotics team at Terrell County High School in 2015.

The GOAL winner is a dual-enrolled high school student who has maintained better than a 4.0 GPA. He will graduate this year in the top 10 percent of his class.

“Nil is a great young leader and will make an excellent computer engineer one day,” said Courtney.“He is a standalone amongst his peers and is highly respected by all.”

Patel will have the opportunity to compete at the regional GOAL competition, which will include the Southwest Georgia consortium for the Technical College System of Georgia on Feb. 21 at Southern Regional Technical College’s Tifton campus.

He then could move on to compete at the state GOAL competition that is scheduled April 11-13 in Atlanta. The state winner is the official spokesperson for technical education in Georgia for 2017.

Albany Tech has had three previous state GOAL winners since the award was established in 1971.