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Contact:
Diane Luckow Media & PR, 604.291.3210; diane_luckow@sfu.ca
Please note that David Press is unavailable for interview

Winning the Governor General’s silver medal for top undergraduate in 2003-04 with the highest marks in the SFU school of engineering science’s 21-year history would propel most students to the mountaintop with pride. But David Press has his sights set on even loftier achievements, both inside and outside the classroom.

In addition to plans for a career in academia, the Victoria native and Belmont secondary school honours grad dreams of climbing some of the great mountains of the world. He has been a passionate mountaineer since age 15.

But it is Press’s academic prowess – he garnerd a near-perfect 4.32 cumulative grade point average, out of a possible 4.33, and a backpack full of awards and scholarships – that clearly elevates him above his peers, says engineering school director Mehrdad Saif. "David is the most talented student to ever go through our school."

Press conducted much of the research for his undergraduate thesis last year at Stanford University as part of his co-op. His dissertation was impressive enough, according to one teacher, to earn him a masters degree in science or electrical engineering from any North American university, says Saif.

Press begins his PhD in applied physics this fall on a graduate fellowship at Stanford, near San Francisco. He has also been awarded a postgraduate scholarship from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

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