CEE announces winners of the annual student awards for the 2019-20 academic year:
Undergraduate Awards
Academic Achievement
This award is given to students who excel in academics in the Department.
A tie in this category! Dylan Jennings and Erin McNeill rocked it with high GPAs, already an impressive feat in the CEE program, but they also accomplished this on top of their respective extracurricular responsibilities. Dylan worked as an undergraduate research assistant, and Erin was an officer in Engineers Without Borders. Their dedication to academic excellence, and their commitment to taking on new challenges, is an inspiration. Congratulations, Dylan and Erin!
Department Service
This award is given to students who demonstrate exceptional service to the Department and other students.
Ana Tijerina Esquino has been a leader her entire tenure in CEE. She has volunteered her time with nearly every CEE student group at some point in her educational journey, including captaining the Steel Bridge team in 2019, supporting EERI at the 2020 Seismic Design competition, and capping off her senior year as both ASCE President and as the undergraduate commencement speaker for the MCECS graduation. Ana has been involved in multiple research positions and took the initiative to organize a capstone project related to the Fernhill Natural Treatment System for Clean Water Services in Forest Grove. She impresses her community by consistently going above and beyond to lift up her peers and challenge herself in her personal studies. Congratulations Ana!
Outstanding Undergraduate
Award is given to the student who demonstrates through any combination of academic achievement, character, or presence as modeling the ideal Viking CEE undergraduate
Polina Polikakhina led the ASCE Steel Bridge team to a 14th place finish at nationals in 2018, completed the program with an impressive GPA, and exudes the optimism and determination of a promising engineer. She has risen to meet many challenges in pursuit of her degree; from moving to the US and learning a new language, to spending nearly a year recovering from a terrible bike crash. This incident nearly derailed her educational goals but inspired her to set a path as a transportation engineer, dedicated to making our city smarter and safer for everyone. This dedication was noted by Kittleson & Associates, where she interned and is planning to start full time after graduation. Congratulations Polina!
Graduate Awards
Academic Achievement
This award is given to students who excel in academics in the Department.
Another tie! Amory Cervarich and Malia Scott are graduating with perfect GPAs!! Amory completed her BSCE at PSU in 2018,. We were excited to see her stay and complete her MS with Dr. Wells. Malia joined the program in 2019, and has consistently been an excellent teaching assistant. Both are known in the CEE community for being reliable, thoughtful, sharp, and of course, academically gifted. Congratulations, Amory and Malia!
Department Service
This award is given to students who demonstrate exceptional service to the Department and other students.
A K M Golam Murtuz is a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Dusicka on the seismic performance of highway bridges. He has had a busy year. While working on his Ph.D. research and successfully defending his research proposal, Murtuz stepped up his responsibilities further and became an instructor for a core junior class, twice! Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, Murtuz pivoted to remote course delivery for the spring with great resilience. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!
Outstanding Graduate Student
Award is given to the student who demonstrates through any combination of academic achievement, character, or presence as modeling the ideal Viking CEE graduate.
Sina Mehdinia is a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Schumacher on a new diagnostic imaging tool for concrete structures based on data fusion of ultrasonic and ground-penetrating radar data and machine learning. Sina has excelled in all of the graduate courses he has taken, some in computer science and electrical engineering, and has already published one conference paper. One journal article is currently under review. He is the recipient of the 2019 ACI-James Instruments Student Award for Research on NDT of Concrete, a competitive award given annually to the student who submitted the best paper. Additionally, Sina also served as an international student mentor and guided one of our new spring international graduate students. Congratulations Sina!