Rising senior in mechanical engineering selected as 2026 Groenendyke Scholarship recipient
Published: Jun 11, 2026 3:35 PM
By Joe McAdory
Ada Pratico, a rising senior in mechanical engineering, is the 2026 Richard A. Groenendyke Scholarship award winner.
Ada Pratico was born to be an engineer.
The rising senior in mechanical engineering once configured two bicycles into one so she and her best friend in middle school could ride the neighborhood in tandem. She spent afternoons taking sewing machines apart, then putting them back together.
More recently, Pratico designed a butt fusion pipe welder for Auburn’s Engineers Without Borders (EWB) chapter for use this summer as part of a gravity‑fed irrigation project serving a remote Bolivian village.
“I’ve always been the kind of person who wanted to understand how things work and how to design my own creations,” Pratico said. “There has not been one single moment that I did not want to be an engineer.”
That lifelong fascination with building and problem‑solving recently earned the Huntsville native statewide recognition. Pratico was selected as the 2026 recipient of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Alabama’s Richard A. Groenendyke Scholarship, which recognizes students for academic achievement, leadership, extracurricular involvement and professional experience.
She will be honored at the ACEC Alabama President’s Dinner on July 24 in Miramar Beach, Florida.
“Ada’s selection for the Groenendyke Scholarship reflects the level of preparation, discipline and professional promise for which Auburn engineers are known,” said George Flowers, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “This award is reserved for students who demonstrate both academic excellence and a clear commitment to advancing the engineering profession, and Ada embodies those qualities. We are proud to see her hard work recognized by a statewide organization that has long invested in developing the next generation of mechanical engineering leaders.”
Auburn Engineering was an easy choice for Pratico out of high school. Here, she still gets to tinker.
“Auburn provides access to state‑of‑the‑art spaces like the Design and Innovation Center and they continue to invest in new technologies,” she said. “Getting hands‑on experience has made me a more well‑rounded engineering student.”
Pratico took her skills to Rheem’s water heater division in Montgomery as a co-op in 2025, spending her first two semesters on the value engineering and packaging engineering teams before moving into new product introduction to support heat pump water heater development.
Working inside the company’s research and development division gave her exposure to design, testing, supplier communication and manufacturing considerations, along with hands-on lab work.
“This co‑op prepared me for the professional world by teaching me the importance of time management, creating professional deliverables and presenting to upper management,” she said. “I also learned a tremendous amount about the engineering behind water heating, testing processes, industry standards, materials and CAD skills that I wouldn’t have gained through coursework alone.”
Beyond graduation (expected in 2027), Pratico wants to join a large manufacturing company and eventually pursue an MBA to bridge her engineering background with the business side of running an organization.
“What interests me most is being part of the research and development side of a company where I can use my creativity and problem‑solving skills,” she said.
“The Groenendyke Scholarship serves as an incentive to continue to drive forward and work hard toward great success. Ultimately, words cannot begin to describe how incredibly grateful I am that others are willing to invest in me and the continuation of my career at Auburn.”
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