Fall 2011 Chapter Reports (PDF)

CHAPTER ANNUAL REPORTSFALL 2011

Chapter articles are published only on-line at this web site www.chi-epsilon.org . Odd numbered chapters, 1,3,5, etc., provide their articles by December 15th of each year to appear in the spring. Even numbered chapters, 2,4,6, etc., provide their articles by May 15th of each year, and they appear on-line in the fall. Please enjoy reading the articles from your chapter and others to find out what is happening locally in Chi Epsilon.

* Page numbers refer to Chi Epsilon Website

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University of Alabama 2Arizona State University 2Bucknell University 3University of California-Davis 4University of California-Irvine 5University of California-Los Angeles 6University of Cincinnati 7City College of New York 7University of Colorado 8The Cooper Union 8University of Dayton 8Drexel University 9University of Evansville 9Florida Institute of Technology 10George Mason University 10Georgia Tech University 11University of Houston 11University of Iowa 12University of Kentucky 13University of Louisiana at Lafayette 13Marquette University 14University of Maryland 15University of Massachusetts at Amherst 16University of Miami 16

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Michigan State University 17University of Mississippi 18University of Missouri-Columbia 18Montana State University 18New Jersey Institute of Technology 19New Mexico State University 19Northeastern University 21University of Notre Dame 22Pennsylvania State University 22Rutgers University 23Southern Methodist University 23University of New York at Buffalo 24Texas A&M University 24University of Texas-El Paso 25University of Toledo 25Trine University 26University of Utah 26University of Vermont 27Villanova University 27University of Virginia 28Virginia Polytechnic University 28Wayne State University 28West Virginia University 29University of Wisconsin 30

CHAPTER ARTICLES FALL 2011

University of Alabama The University of Alabama Chi Epsilon chapter had two main events this past year. The first was the ini-tiation of the new Chi Epsilon members. This event took place on the 4th of April on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, and all of the rituals of initiation were duly observed. Twenty-seven new members were initiated that evening. After the induction ceremony, the officers asked the new initiates for nominations for new Chi Epsilon officers, and the vote was taken at the banquet the next evening.

The day after the initiation ceremony, UA Chi Epsilon helped to host the UA Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Spring Banquet. (see pho-to at left) The preparation for that banquet was extensive and was conducted in cooperation with the UA Civil Engineering Department staff. To honor the achievements of the students and faculty in the department was the objective of the event. Before the banquet, the new Order of the Engineer inductees took the Obligation of an Engineer and were presented with their rings. At the banquet, the recently initiated Chi Epsilon students were recognized and presented with

their certificates. Several other organizations within the Civil Engineering Department recognized their members, and the department recognized students for outstanding academic achievements. The outgoing Chi Epsilon officers are as follows: Joseph Higginbotham, president; Lindsey Kilgore, vice-president; Robert McElvy, secretary; Laura Beth Pockstaller, treasurer; Frances Green, marshal/associ-ate editor. The officers for the 2011-2012 year are as follows: Robert McElvy, president; Morgan Calvano, vice-president; Elizabeth Holmes, secretary; Erin O’Connor, treasurer; Alexandra Dukeman, marshal/associ-ate editor.

Arizona State University This year has been especially productive for the Arizona State chapter of Chi Epsilon. Thirty-three new members were initiated on April 29th: Matthew Altman, Jorge Amaya, Melissa Archer, Amanda Amos, Amro Bissat, An-drew Chill, Christina Daws, Matild Dosa, Travis Dunn, Jesus Esquivel, Ryan Furcini, Sara Gushgari, Matthew Hann, Joseph Harrington, Cari Henning, Omar Jawhar, Tate Jensen, Rex Juacalla, Andrew Kaehr, Lauren McBur-nett, Jose Medina, Seth Morales, Matthew Nahlik, Triana Gonzalez Neves, Eddy Ramirez, Ronald Record, Bryan Rodriguez, Ryan Sariego, Joshua Smith, Joshua Steele, Laura Ven-toza, Ashley Welton, and George Whitten. (see photo at right) New officers were elected for all positions, with Breann Sharma as the new president, Isha Mehta, vice-president; Triana Gonzalez Neves, secretary; John Heck, treasurer; Erick Ponce, marshal; and Michael Gehringer, associate editor and student council representa-tive. They are taking the place of outgoing officers: Samuel Enmon, president; Brent Schuster, vice-president; Jordan Reed, secretary; Elizabeth Weil, treasurer and associate editor; Timothy Cason, marshal; and Thomas Volo, student council representative, who have worked diligently throughout the semester, as our new officers will continue to do. Our faculty advisor and Chi Epsilon alumnus, Dr. Chris Lawrence, has been extremely helpful to our chapter as well.

CHAPTER ANNUAL REPORTS 2 FALL 2010

Our chapter introduced new volunteer events this year. We volunteered at the St. Vincent De-Paul Charity of Phoenix, which assists the homeless in our community in various ways, by taking down their Christmas deco-rations in January. Additionally, we helped Arizona State’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers with their event WOW- That’s Engineering! It consisted of teaching young girls about engineering and helping them with small projects. We assisted SWE in various areas, from logistics of setting up to helping the girls put together their projects. We continued providing FE reviews for all interested engineers, civil or not, each semester. These are especially beneficial, as many of the subjects are reviews from years past. It is also an excellent fundraiser for us, as we charge non-Chi Epsilon members a small fee. This semester, our reviews started about a month before the exam, and there were 1-4 sessions per week. We try to improve the review sessions for each semester, by adding or replacing topics to make the sessions as beneficial as possible. Many events were held to bring together civil engineers, Chi Epsilon or not. We introduced a bowling night, which had an excellent turnout. We continued with the tradition of holding a kickball game each semester as well. Due to Arizona’s excellent weather, we also went to see a spring training game. Between our volunteer efforts, FE reviews, and social events, our chapter continues to practice Scholarship, Character, Practicality, and Sociability.

Bucknell UniversityCommunity Service Event:

On April 11, 2011, the Bucknell chapter of Chi Epsilon hosted a troop of local boy scouts and assisted them in their efforts to earn engineering badges. Daniel Treppel delivered a presentation to one group of scouts about different types of bridges seen around the world. Afterwards, each scout designed and constructed his own truss bridge comprised of pop-sicle sticks and hot glue. (see photo at left) The bridges were tested for structural stability under an eccentrically placed point load. The scouts found excitement in predicting which bridges would fail and which would hold the most weight. Bill Holm led a second group of scouts as they learned about the mechanics of trebuchets and catapults. Eager to play with the pro-jectile marshmallows, the scouts and their designated chapter member assistants immediately dove in and created their own renditions of a cat-

apult, modifying a simple milk carton kit into a masterpiece for a friendly shooting distance competition. (see photo at right) At the conclusion of the event, each scout was presented with an award signifying successful completion of the task. The scouts very much enjoyed learning about the field of engineering, and our chapter members were inspired by their drive and ability to think outside the box in their efforts to earn their engineering badges.Initiation Event: On February 3, 2011, the Bucknell University chapter of Chi Epsilon initiated 12 new members, elevated Professor Richard G. McGinnis to Chapter Honor Member, and initiated Assistant Professor Kelly A. Sal-yards as Faculty Member. Current members and faculty were also in attendance and joined the new initiates for a dinner hosted by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. After dinner, Professor McGinnis delivered an invited lecture about the importance of becoming a global citizen and a global engineer. The elevation of Professor McGinnis to Chapter Honor Member came after 40 years of service to the profession as a practicing transportation engineer and as a teacher and scholar at Bucknell University. Professor McGinnis earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering at Bucknell University, a Master of Science degree in civil engineering at Northwestern University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in transportation


engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. He has extensive professional experience in roadside safety research and engineering as well as railroad engineering. Professor McGinnis also has been a leader in promoting international education for engineering and other students at Bucknell. For example, he served as co-director of Bucknell-in-London study abroad program on three separate occasions. In addition, he co-founded a three-week summer course entitled, “ENGR 290: Engineering in a Global and Societal Context”, a course that has been taught by Bucknell faculty (including Professor McGinnis on three occasions) each year since 2004 in countries such as England, Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway. Recently, Professor McGinnis was awarded the 2010-11 Burma-Bucknell Bowl, an award that “recognizes an organization or university com-munity member (faculty, staff or student) who has made outstanding contributions to intercultural and interna-tional understanding.” Professor Salyards was selected by the Bucknell University chapter of Chi Epsilon to be initiated as a Faculty Member after having demonstrated excellence in teaching and research for the past three and a half years at Bucknell. Professor Salyards earned BS, MS, and PhD degrees in architectural engineering at Penn State University. She also held several structural and architectural engineering internships and worked as a practicing structural designer for an architectural engineering firm before attending graduate school. Professor Salyards became an Assistant Professor at Bucknell in 2007 and has taught several introductory engineering courses and upper-level structures courses. Her research focuses on vibration serviceability and human-structure interac-tion. Professor Salyards also has served as co-advisor for the Bucknell student chapter of ASCE, as an assistant mentor for the ASCE ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) program, and as a member of both the ASCE Structural Identification Committee and the ASCE Technical Council for Forensic Engineering Educa-tion.Outgoing Officers:Gabrielle Carpenter, president; Daniel Voss, vice-president; Kelsey Johnson, secretary; Emily Daniels, associ-ate editor; and Carl Anderson, marshal.New Officers:Greg Stevenson, president; Alyssa Oelsner, vice-president; Carolyn Breden, secretary; Anne Sequeira, associ-ate editor/board master; Bill Holm, marshal; and Oudam Meas, web master.

University of California-Davis The University of California, Davis Chi Epsilon chapter started off the 2010-2011 school year by attending the 2010 Pacific Regional Conference held in November at Cal Poly Pomona. (see photo at left) Six members of the UC Davis chapter attended the conference, where they gave a presentation about Chi Epsi-lon finances and budgets. In February, the UC Davis chapter attended the 2011 EERI Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition held in San Diego, CA. (see photo below right) The UC Davis Chi Epsilon Seismic Design Team was proud

to have produced a structure that was not destroyed by all three of the simulated earthquakes. Later in February, the UC Davis chapter participated in the UC Davis En-gineering Joint Council’s E-Week (Engineering Week), where they demonstrated the seismic design project for undergraduate and graduate engineers, engineer-ing professors, prospective UC Davis engineering students, and other interested members of the UC Davis community. Members of UC Davis Chi Epsilon and UC Davis EERI collaborated for this event to model earthquake behavior on a few sample structures with an earthquake “shake table”. Throughout the 2010-2011 year the UC Davis chapter


also participated in volunteer construction projects with the Yolo County Habitat for Humanity, and various so-cial events, such as barbeques, where the Chi Epsilon members could benefit from a supportive environment of classmates and friends. Last spring 2010, the UC Davis chapter of Chi Epsilon initiated seven members: Angela Barich, Michael Boone, Nathan Borgo, Justin Kelly, Cyrus Khorshidchehr, Carlos Mendoza, and Lawrence Yu. At this time, the chapter was pleased to welcome a new 2010-2011 cabinet of both new initiates and returning members: Dan-iel Dilsaver, president; Rudy Nie, vice-president; Justin Kelly, secretary; Gabriel Rodriquez, treasurer; Angela Barich, associate editor; and Michael Boone, marshal. The UC Davis chapter of Chi Epsilon looks forward to initiating the next pledge class at the end of spring 2011, and boosting its reputation and presence throughout the UC Davis campus and community.

University of California-Irvine During the 2010-2011 academic year, the University of California Irvine student chapter spread Chi Epsi-lon’s vision through the events that we hosted. Furthermore, the Irvine chapter also devoted many hours to help

prepare for the spring quarter initiation. At the beginning of the year, the officers organized the logistics for our par-ticipation at the annual Pacific District Conference that took place at California Polytechnic University, Pomona. (see photo at left) Moreover, the officers worked in teams to create a poster board to introduce our Irvine student chapter and pre-sentation slides that explained the process of attracting the initiates. The conclave turned out to be a very fun experience to all of our officers and was actually the year where our chapter had the most participants than before. Hopefully, at the

next conclave not only officers but more members can partake in this exciting event. As the year progressed, we proposed activities and scheduled events that would appeal to the initiates and also help them understand what Chi Epsilon’s purpose is as an honor society. During Engineering Week, we held a competition to promote student involvement. In addition, we in-vited professors to teach at the FE study sessions to help the students prepare for the exam. Among the different engineering student organizations, initiates and current members can also participate in events such as the Battle of the ESOs (Engineer Student Organizations), which are sports and tournaments of basketball, dodge ball, and flag football. We enjoyed all the sports and especially in flag football, we did very well and got second place. As the year comes to an end, all of our preparations throughout the year have led us to the initiation process, which involves hosting a variety of events for the initiates and allowing the initiates to fulfill the requirements that relate to the four pillars. Some of the events that we held were pub nights at our school’s Student Center, the Highest Tower Competition, karaoke night, beach bonfire and clean up (see photo at right), and a volunteering event at Shade-Tree. These events allowed the initiates to not only succeed academically, but also to enhance their scholarship, character, practicality and sociability. After completing their requirements, the initiates—Mr. Dylan Tyler Lafrance, Ms. Dorothy Chung, Mr. Dung Huy Nguyen, Ms. Cecilia Maria Dominguez, Mr. Quan Cui, Mr. David Martin De Vera, Mr. Thomas Edward Gocke, Mr. Phuoc Tran, Mr. Kenneth Euekheang Tang, Ms. Melanie Kimi Morita, Mr. Carl Lucas Yee, Ms. Irene Chia, Mr. Adnan A Anabtawi, Ms. Rebecca Hanh Shafer, Mr. Nadeem Noorzay, Mr. Ander-son Heng Xuan Ren, Mr. Jomel Castro Castillejos, Mr. Anthony Galeon Di Pasupil, Mr. Daniel D. Chien, Mr. Kibret Walelign Temesgen, Mr. Justin Shoji Sakakura, Ms. Jessica Marie Satterlee, Ms. Anastasia Marie Sanchez, Mr. Brok Dominic Burchatz, Mr. Henry Gray, and Mr. Jeffrey Tangonan were initiated on


Saturday, May 14th. In the following years, we hope to continue to spread Chi Epsilon’s vision as to maintain and promote the status of civil engineering with the new cabinets that we will be transitioning near the end of the quarter. With the incoming officers, we aim to make our chapter as fruitful as possible and hope to continue the good work that we’ve been doing.

University of California-Los Angeles The 2010-2011 school year for the University of California, Los Angeles Chi Epsilon chapter has been one filled with many accomplishments—the greatest of which has been maintaining and initiating a strong group of twenty-two new members. This year the officer board, comprised of Bradley Gerlick, president; Charles Ma, vice-president; Anthony Biegel, treasurer; Barr Levy, secretary; Justin Ray, marshal; and Carolyn Chou, associate editor, focused primarily on developing and promoting a healthy array of membership opportunities to encourage interest with the organization to prospective initiates. The Annual Pacific District Conference was hosted by California Polytechnic Institute at Pomona, and attending UCLA representatives had the privilege of meeting with other university chapters which facilitated the adoption of new techniques for maintaining a successful Chi Epsilon chapter. Members and officers gained valu-able insight and had a chance to discuss the upcoming national conclave, to be held in Los Angeles in 2012. The UCLA chapter has been in contact with our brother USC chapter towards the successful coordination of several aspects of this year’s upcoming conclave. Throughout the course of the academic year, UCLA officers provided prospective initiates with a variety of engaging opportunities from which initiates could demonstrate their understanding of the four pillars of Chi Epsilon. Several social events were utilized to strengthen the bond amongst the incoming initiate group where initiates worked together to demonstrate their sociability and practicality in problem solving and service. Schol-arship and character were assessed throughout the year through joint career development events and volunteer opportunities with the UCLA chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Participation in in-terview and resume workshops, software tutorials, outreach events, and blood drives were all encouraged with initiate attendance being abundant and highly enthusiastic. The UCLA chapter of Chi Epsilon hosted its sixth

annual Signature Party in February 2011. At the Signature Party, initiates had the opportunity to meet current members, officers, alumni, and civil engineer-ing faculty, which included Department Chair J.S. Chen, Professor Sant, and Chi Epsilon Faculty Advisor Scott Brandenberg. The final Initiation ceremony took place in May of 2011, and the UCLA chapter successfully initiated one of our largest groups of members to date. (see photo at left) During the reception, initiates had a chance to network with current members and alumni. We are excited to announce the incoming officer board for the upcoming

2011-2012 school year with Bryan Carpentier, president; Kendra Rusinek, vice-president; Greggory Schwartz, reasurer; Karina Chavarria, secretary; Jose Gradilla, marshal; and Ryan Vanderlip, associate editor. We wish the new board the best of luck and anticipate an equally successful year for the chapter.


University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati chapter has had a spectacular year! During the fall quarter, we initiated 16 new members (see photo at right) and an honor-ary faculty member, Gian Rassati. The district councilor, Dr. Thomas Wolff, joined in the festivities. Then in the spring, we initiated an additional 6 members. Celebrations took place afterward at the local hot spot, Christy’s, where we got to know our new members better.

During the winter, our members were very active. Some volunteered at the High School Wooden Bridge Competition, hosted by UC’s civil department. High school physics students designed and built miniature balsa wood bridges and brought them to UC to be tested in bearing and deflection by our Chi Epsilon members. Other members prepared a college-wide series of review sessions for the nerve-wracking FE exam. A few weeks later, a team of Chi Epsilons, dubbed the “Purple Lantern” in honor of a super-hero theme (see photo at left), won 1st place overall in E-Week (Engineering-Week) events. Spring quarter was no less eventful. We joined forces with our fellow civil

students and sponsored a much-needed renovation of the campus Civil Lounge. Additionally, two of our recent initiates, Alan Hagerty and Michael Linger, were elected the student body president and vice-president for the 2011-2012 school year. Way to go Alan and Michael! With elections in progress for our 2011-2012 Exec Board, our outgoing officers for the 2010-2011 school year are Anna Damcevski, president; Megan Hathaway, vice-president; Kristy Newlon, treasurer; Jon Koester, secretary; Kyle Kungle, marshal; and Katt Dickert, associate editor. These leaders will be co-hosting a dinner on June 11, for our graduating civil engineering seniors.

City College of New York The 2010-2011 academic year was a great success for the City College chapter. On May 16th, ten new initiates were inducted as members of the society: Andreas Apostolopoulos, Liza Billings, Benjamin Lau, Xin Li, Soufiane Nez-ili, Diniece Peters, Yanil Rosario, Serge Roux, Ksenia Shikhmacheva ,and Jun Yan. We are also inducting Edward Plotkin, our 68th Chapter Honor Member, for his continued contributions to the City College through the Civil Engineering Alumni Group. Our outgoing officers will continue to be active members in our chapter, of whom are Jessica Wang, president; and Benjamin Conable, secre-tary. We bid a fond farewell to our graduating officers, Andre Clarke, marshal; and Tristan Anderson, associ-ate editor. The incoming officers for the 2010-2011 academic year are Diniece Peters, president; Jose Moscat, vice-president; Amira Nazar, treasurer; Andreas Apostolopoulos, secretary; Ksenia Shikhmacheva, marshal; and Xin Li, associate editor. Special mention was made by our faculty advisor, Professor Neville Parker, and by CEAG chairman Jack Seidman, of the excellent leadership over the past year of Chapter President Jessica Wang. We thank her for her outstanding effort. The influence of Chi Epsilon has grown significantly at City College the past year due to progressive-minded leadership. The services offered to the department were heavily utilized by the civil engineering student body. Chapter officers continued to improve and maintain the chapter website and our department newsletter, The Grove Column, is being published to the department and our alumni subscribers. The Chi Epsilon website


allows students to check for updates, download old newsletters, obtain contact information of current members, provides up to date scholarship information, and serves as a nexus between students, faculty, and alumni. The newsletter provides information on the accomplishments of students, the Chi Epsilon club, and other club and departmental achievements. The website and newsletter are the major ways Chi Epsilon is playing a more ac-tive role in reaching out to the alumni of the school who have continued to provide guidance and support to stu-dents. Chi Epsilon, along with American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter, organized seven workshops and seminars for students this past year. These were hosted by the Civil Engineering Alumni Group (CEAG) of City College, of which our new Chapter Honor Member is an active member. The alumni group was also involved in organizing a site surveying workshop in collaboration with Skanska at the 2nd Ave Subway project and a site visit to the new science buildings going up on our campus. Chi Epsilon took a leadership role in organizing the City College cohort attending the annual Moles Student Day and was rewarded with a record turnout. Workshops focused on communication skills & estimating engineering, seminars that illustrated career opportunities in civil engineering, challenges of ethical problems in engineering, as well as advice from former executives on how to start an engineering business all of which received record attendance. We look forward in the next year to improving our Peer Mentoring Program by involving the professors from our first year civil engineering courses, and to improving scholarship application volume from the Civil En-gineering students. We welcome the new Deep Foundation Institute student chapter to campus and look forward to collaborating with them on more site visits for students.

University of Colorado-BoulderThe University of Colorado chapter of Chi Epsilon began the new year by saying farewell to the graduating mem-bers and by electing all new officers. New officers for the 2011-2012 year are as follows: Matthew Schwartz, president; Whitney Maifarth, vice-president; Daniel Camp, secretary; Michael Gartman, treasurer; Samuel Henning, associated editor; and Marisa Isenhart, marshal. The new officers and members are encouraging new membership within the university. The new initiates doubled the previous chapter size. The officers coordinated the FE exam reviews for the College of Engineering. In the fall, the chapter plans to organize more events and participate in campus affairs outside of the engineering school.

The Cooper Union In the 2010-2011 academic year, initiation was held on May 2011. Twelve new members were initiated. The outgoing officers were Charles Canepa, Jason Damiano, Jack Greenberg, Judy Luo, and Jacob Presky. The new officers are James Collins, president; Stephen Maniscalco, vice-president; Andrew Tam, treasurer; Christina Milone, secretary; Ken Ko, associate editor; and Madeline Foster, marshal.

University of Dayton The University of Dayton chapter of Chi Epsilon inducted 13 new members during the spring semester of 2010. The new members were initiated in January of 2010, and include: Bethany Marquis, Lindsie MacPher-son, Elizabeth Miller, Gina Balsamo, Joseph Gayda, Joseph Munno, Meghann Wygonik, Mark Lee, Phillip Dresden, David Frey, Timothy Dengler, and Nicholas Zadd. The following new and current members took office for the 2010-2011 year: Bethany Marquis, president; Phillip Dresden, vice-president; Elizabeth Miller,


secretary; Lindsie MacPherson, associate editor; Gina Balsamo, marshal; and Daniel Kemlage, treasurer. Outgoing officers for the 2009-2010 year included Jason Rickey, president; Lydia Reichardt, secretary; Zach Bornhorst, treasurer; and Luke Reboletti, marshal. The faculty advisor is Dr. Donald Chase. Over the past year, the University of Dayton chapter took part in both service and social activities around the Dayton Area. Chi Epsilon members worked in collaboration with the University of Dayton ASCE chapter to work a booth for the Christmas on Campus event. Several members also took part in the Ohio Contractors Asso-ciation estimating competition this past year. In addition, several members also participated in the concrete canoe competition. All in all, it was another very successful year for the University of Dayton chapter, and we hope this coming year even more successful and fulfilling for all our current members.

Drexel University During the 2010-2011 academic year thirteen new members were initiated into the Drexel University chapter of Chi Epsilon in February 2011. The new of-ficer positions held for the 2011-2012 academic year are as follows: Thomas E. McGrew, president; Steven A. Squibb, vice-president; Jaclyn M. Raciti, trea-surer; Jared M. Hurwich, secretary; Marissa N. Zaporta, associate editor; and Jonathan F. Hubler, marshal. (see photo at left) Prior to the February 2011 in-duction and new officer installation, the following members held leadership roles during the 2010-2011 academic year: Thomas E. McGrew, president; Derrick

Musser, vice-president; Chrystina Capello, treasurer; Charles Young, secretary; Adrian Lu, associate editor; and Jonathan F. Hubler, marshal. Over the last year, the Drexel University chapter of Chi Epsilon sponsored FE review sessions for both the fall and spring exams, as well as organized the Order of the Engineer ceremony.

University of Evansville During each academic year, the University of Evansville is proud to uphold the great tradition of initiating new members to its local chapter of the prestigious National Civil Engineering Honor Society, Chi Epsilon. On May 6, 2011, five juniors: Gulzat Atymtayeva, Jacob Nardulli, Ricardo Paredes Aronsohn, Susan Smith, and Trevor Weaver, were quietly led into a dark room in the UE’s library for their initiation. After they were called in and asked to sit before the chapter officers, two faculty members, Dr. James Allen, PE, and Dr. S. Im-manuel Selvaraj, were also led into the room and the ceremony began. New members were asked to uphold their responsibilities, and all agreed respectfully. By the end of the ceremony, the new members expressed their grati-tude toward their old mentors and peers for the opportunity to be a part of Chi Epsilon. The old officers, Andrew Dial, president; Kien Pham, vice-president and associate editor; Mark Riehle, treasurer; Brian Varner, secre-tary; and Jamin Heldt, marshal, had passed their positions on to the new junior members. Gulzat Atymtayeva was named the new president; Jacob Nardulli was named the new vice-president; Trevor Weaver was named the new treasurer; Ricardo Paredes Aronsohn was named the new secretary; and Susan Smith was named the new marshal and associate editor. During the academic year of 2010-2011, members of the Chi Epsilon University of Evansville chapter were active in both national and local activities. Our chapter members took leadership roles in our local chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Ricardo Paredes Aronsohn was ASCE secretary and also co-chair of our annual balsawood bridge building educational community outreach at the local children’s museum. Mark Riehle and Brian Varner helped to write the 2010 ASCE Report that resulted in a Certificate of Commendation


for our school. Mark Riehle and Jamin Heldt were co-chairs of planning committee for the 2011 ASCE Nation-al Concrete Canoe competition that was hosted at the University of Evansville June 15 through June 18, Members of our chapter helped with examinations given to prospective students on UE Engineering Scholarship Day.

Florida Institute of Technology The 2010-2011 school year is Chi Epsilon’s 20th anniversary at Florida Institute of Technology. Seventeen new members were welcomed into the chapter and six new officers were elected: Bailu Wei, Jon Haylock, Alex Armstrong, Raymond Sy, Etienne Wolmarans, Gustavo Salazar, Hussian Al Hatailah, Mohammed Abu Saq, Michael Matern, Priyanka Prakash, Peter Zimara-kos, Nicholas Gagliardo, Sampath Hemachandra, Nora B. Happner, Andy Bankert, Kathleen Orrico, and Anthony Walton. (see photo at right)

Our new officers are Etienne Wolmarans, president; Alex Armstrong, vice-president; Anthony Walton, associate editor; Kathleen Orrico; secretary; Raymond Sy, treasurer; and Priyanka Prakash, marshal. (see photo at left) Outgoing officers are Ethan Tyson, president; and Kimberly Townsend, vice-president. The Florida Tech chapter took part in numerous activities this year including the Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe competitions at the 2011 ASCE Southeast Conference in Cookeville, Tennessee. We placed first overall for the concrete ca-noe and will be continuing on to compete at nationals. Chi Epsilon also hosted an

FE exam review each semester and participated in a number of phonathons calling high school students to answer their questions about Florida Tech. From the Florida Tech chapter, good luck to our graduating members and until next year.

George Mason University The George Mason University chapter of Chi Epsilon has completed another exciting year, which in-cluded the induction of thirteen new members and the election of five new officers. The initiation ceremony was held on December 5, 2010. The ceremony consisted of member pledges, the giving of the symbolic transit pins, a banquet reception, and the bestowing of Chi Epsilon certificates. The inductees have dem-onstrated outstanding scholastic achievement, academic integrity, and leadership. This group of new initiates brings a wealth of diversity and international experi-ence to the George Mason University chapter or Chi Epsilon. Below is a list of the new initiates into George Mason University’s chapter of Chi Epsilon for fall 2010. (see photo at right) From back left: Matthew Katon, Matin Kheyrani, Christopher Dean, Glenn Reese, Amr Ibrahim, David McGraw, Milad Bahamin. From front left: Sebry Adem, Esmerlyn Campos, Gina Goettler, Carmen Leon-Pacheco, Daniel Lavarnway, Yaksha Dahal. The George Mason University chapter of Chi Epsilon elected five new officers as well. During an election and ceremony that took place on April 7, 2010 each of the officer positions were filled with a new member. The outgoing officers were Mariana Cruz, Kristen Stevens, Travis Brown, Trevor Hughes, and Jim Milliken.


The new officers to serve during the 2011-2012 academic year are: Daniel Lavarnway, David McGraw, Mat-thew Katon, Gina Goettler, and Soroush Fakhriyazdi. Keeping with the tradition of academic and professional excellence, George Mason University’s chapter of Chi Epsilon hosted review sessions for the FE exam. The student officers of the chapter worked with their professors and peers to coordinate FE review sessions to help prepare themselves and their peers for the exam. The George Mason chapter hopes to continue to play an active role in preparing students for success and looks forward to another exciting academic year.

Georgia Tech University The Georgia Tech chapter of Chi Epsilon has made excellent progress over the past year. Frequent chap-ter meetings with guest speakers helped increase the awareness and involvement of members with the chapter’s activities, and a graduate information session with a panel of graduate students was held to inform undergraduates about considerations and opportunities for continued study or research in graduate school. Each semester, the officers organized review sessions conducted by faculty for the civil engineering sections of the FE exam. At the fall initiation ceremony held on November 16, 2010, the Georgia Tech chapter welcomed 30 new members; another 22 members were initiated in the spring semester on April 19, 2011. Following each initiation, the officers treated the initiates to dinner at a local restaurant, providing everyone an opportunity to meet and be-come familiar with each other. Officers for the past year were Christina Barry, president; Katalina Keilhauer, vice-president; Cesuni-ca Ivey, secretary; Austin Rowan, treasurer; Heather Bradley, associate editor; and Bradley Dolphyn, marshal. Two of the incumbent officers, Austin Rowan and Bradley Dolphyn, were elected and installed to new positions (president and associate editor, respectively) for the coming year, fostering a smooth transition for the new lead-ership team. The new officers are Paul Son, vice-president; Jerome Sin, secretary; Andrew Sills, treasurer; and Julius Doan, marshal.

University of Houston The 2010-2011 academic year at the University of Houston Chi Epsilon chapter saw a significant growth in membership. A total of 28 new members will be inducted by the end of this academic year, of which five will be inducted this spring semester. Incoming officers for the spring and fall 2011 semester are Juan M. Gonzalez, president; Sergey A. Le-vochkin, vice-president; Padmanabha Rao, treasurer; Rachel N. Howser, secretary; Hector De La O, associate editor; Elizabeth A. Heeb, marshal. During the 2010-2011 academic year, our chapter’s secretary, Rachel N. Howser, was awarded the ASCE O.H. Ammann Research Fellowship in Structural Engineering. Our chapter’s members are very active in ASCE and have participated in both the concrete canoe com-petition and the steel bridge competition throughout the year. Our chapter also helps students by providing free tutoring for undergraduate civil engineering courses. Within the Houston community, our chapter is also active. Our chapter organized volunteer work for the Lighthouse of Houston, an education center dedicated to assisting blind people to live independently. Overall, it has been a great year for the University of Houston Chi Epsilon chapter. We will continue to promote the Chi Epsilon motto and purpose within our university.


University of Iowa The University of Iowa Chi Epsilon chapter (UICEC) would like to report another year of successful activity. The chapter activities included: volunteerism, fundraising, review sessions, and numerous social gather-ings. The recruitment efforts over the last year yielded ten new UICEC members: Matthew Anderson, Hannah Fleck, Zachary Hanson, Yiming He, Jessica Kirschbaum, Matthew Litwin, Ian Stewart, Taryn Tigges, Alex Potter, and Ryan Wright. Officer elections were held on April 18th. The UICEC president for next year will be, Alex Potter.Volunteerism:

In order to fulfill the chapter’s volunteering obligation, opportunities for volunteerism were sought from the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability (UIOoS). The UIOoS coordinates the efforts of numerous student groups during the month of April; which is celebrated as “Earth Month” on campus. Due to the number of student groups geared towards environmental concerns the amount of activity to choose from was quite diverse. Ultimately, the chapter decided to assist in a waste sort of the Dental Sciences Building (DSB). A waste sort is an activity done with a representative of the local recycling firm, to better character-

ize the type of waste generated by different departments within a university building. As an example, the trash from the oral surgery department was collected and delivered to appropriately geared volunteers, in Tyvex suits and safety glasses, set up in a tented outside area for sorting. The items within the collected trash were sorted into appropriate bins, such as “latex gloves”, “compostable paper”, “sterilization packages”, etc. These bins were then weighed and recorded. The resulting information was used to design better waste management practices for each department to minimize generated waste. Chi Epsilon volunteers also gained recognition from this event through interviews with the local newspaper. The resulting story made the front page of the next day issue and contained quotes from Chi Epsilon members.Fundraising: UICEC conducted a bake sale fundraiser within the Old Capitol Mall food court. The goods for the bake sale were made and packaged by Chi Epsilon members. In lieu of setting fixed prices for each good the bake sale was run as “donation” only. Therefore, when customers asked the cost of any particular good they were told, “All that is asked is a donation”. This method proved to be quite convenient and possibly more lucrative as many customers would take one item (i.e. a brownie) while donating a dollar. The total amount of funds raised by the six hour long bake sale was $234.45.Review Sessions: A traditional activity for UICEC is the coordination of the FE Exam review sessions. These sessions are conducted by professors from all of the engineering departments and are open to anyone interested in attending. The sessions themselves are two hours long, typically planned to occur a week or two before the FE is scheduled. This year ten review sessions were planned. Though the statistical evidence is not available, UICEC likes to be-lieve that our efforts directly contribute to the 98% FE pass rate of University of Iowa engineers. Regardless the gratitude from our peers is sufficient to make the endeavor a cornerstone of the UICEC.Social Events: As a relatively small student organization, filled with members who are generally very active within a variety of other student groups, the social gather-ings throughout the year are very welcome and bond UICEC together as a close group. (see photos above and at right) This year members came together to eat, play games, and converse many times for various reasons such as: to promote the group to prospective members, initiate members, celebrate the end of a semester, and thank our professors. UICEC also benefits from a gregarious faculty


advisor, Professor Richard Valentine, who many times out of the year opens his home to Chi Epsilon and Civil Engineering Professors for excellent food and entertainment. The University of Iowa Chi Epsilon chapter looks forward to continued success in the coming year.

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky chapter of Chi Epsilon had a successful year. On May 8th 2011, chapter mem-

bers of Chi Epsilon participated in a Habitat for Humanity house construction in Lexington, KY. Carrying on the tradition, Chi Epsilon hosted the extremely popular ‘Popsicle Bridge Competition’ at the Engineers Day open house in the UK College of Engineering. (see photo at left) Along with this event, Chi Epsilon teamed up with ASCE to host a computer-aided bridge design event for middle school and elementary school students. Chi Epsilon also organized a charity corn-hole tournament to raise money for the benefit of Japan tsunami victims. Officers handed out approximately 150 free t-shirts and fliers to advertise for the

tournament. The Chi Epsilon chapter also welcomed nine new members at fall and spring initiations on December 1st, 2010 and April 27th 2011, respectively. The new initiates were: Rebecca E. Franke, Elliot Magoto, Jonathan B. Kidd, Stacey L. Schal, William I. Ford III, Philip A. Riley, Lizabeth J. Likins, Jessica N. Workman, and Tariq M. Siddiqui. In December and May, the chapter saw the graduation of its President Adam Bender-Saunders, Vice-President Ellen Westermeyer, Secretary Kelly Hoeksema, and Associate Editor Abeetha Peiris. New officers of the chapter elected for 2011, are Jonathan B. Kidd, president; Lizabeth J. Likins, vice-president; Rebecca E. Franke, secretary; and Tariq M. Siddiqui, associate editor.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette During the fall 2010 semester, several Chi Epsilon members mentored some of the freshmen in the Civil Engineering 101 class on a transportation project. The members assisted in helping the freshmen stimulate their creative minds in designing a different configuration for the interchange of interstates I-10 and I-49. During the spring 2011 semester, a Chi Epsilon member conducted a presentation in the civil engineering hydraulics lab for local high school seniors participating in the university’s Spring Preview Day. The presentation included a slide show illustrating past semesters’ senior design class projects and a demonstration of the hydraulic jump machine. The fall 2010 Chi Epsilon initiation ceremony occurred on Thursday, December 2nd, 2010, inducting five members: Madeleine M. Bodin, Michael G. Cook, William D. Fontenot, Alison C. Lognion, and Neil E. Schneider. Chi Epsilon Faculty Advisor Dr. Ehab Meselhe, Civil Engineering Department Head Dr. Ken McManis, and civil engineering adjunct professors Mr. E. Ray DesOrmeaux and Mr. Allison “Sonny” Launey, were among the various faculty who attended the ceremony to support and congratulate the initiates; addition-ally, the husband of Mrs. Bodin and graduate students were present. A reception with cookies and Coca-Cola followed. The fall 2010 officers were: Logan Locicero, president; Heath Michel, vice-president; Ahmed Gaw-eesh, secretary; Matthew Trahan, treasurer; Sahas Shrestha, associate editor; and Andrew Juneau, marshal.


On the last day of spring classes, April 29th, 2011, the chapter initiat-ed two members, Sarah N. Richard and Charles W. LeBouef, at the Madison Hall Auditorium on the UL Lafayette campus. Honored guests in attendance include Dr. Olin Dart, Southern District Councillor and National Historian, and Dr. Kam Movassaghi; both had an instumental in founding the UL Lafayette chapter in 1985; Mr. Chris Richard and Mrs. Susan Richard came to see their daughter be initiated into the society of whom both are alumni. Additionally,

graduate students, along with Chi Epsilon Advi-sor Dr. Ehab Meselhe, Civil Engineering Department Head Dr. Ken McManis, and Associate Professor Dr. Mohammad J. Khattak, were present to welcome the initiates. Following the ceremony, guests and the new initiates proceeded to the joint banquet with American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to celebrate. (see photos above and at left) The spring 2011 officers are Madeleine Bodin, president; William “Billy” Fontenot, vice-president; Neil Schneider, secretary; Matthew Trahan, treasurer; Alison Lognion, associate editor; and Andrew Ju-

neau, marshal. The joint Chi Epsilon and ASCE banquet was held on Friday April 29th, 2011, at the Petroleum Club of Lafayette. Seventy students, faculty, and staff from the Civil Engineering Department, as well as professionals from the area, attended the event. A pianist set the tone of the evening as the guests relaxed, catching up and get-ting drinks from the cash bar. ASCE president, 2011-2012, Jacob Benton led the invocation, and Dr. Mohammad J. Khattak, a newly sworn in American citizen, commenced the Pledge of Allegiance. Graduating senior Scott LeBlanc continued the banquet as Master of Ceremonies and introduced the guest speaker, Will Potier. Mr. Potier spoke on how effective time management leads one to live a balanced lifestyle between family and work; he emphasized the importance of spending quality time with his or her family. The distinguished guest, Dr. Olin Dart, gave a short presentation on the current state of the Southern District and upcoming events in the society. After the informative speech from a representative of the national chapter and founder of the UL Lafayette chapter, the program continued as Dr. Xiaoduan Sun awarded the departmental scholarships, and Dr. Ken Mc-Manis honored two graduating seniors with recognition of the Outstanding Civil Engineering Graduate and the Outstanding Leadership and Professional Service Award. Madeleine Bodin, Chi Epsilon president, and Alison Lognion, ASCE president, both delivered states of their respective chapters and then announced the student body voted awards. Chi Epsilon Faculty Advisor Dr. Ehab Meselhe rightly recognized the department secretary and lab technician for their endless dedication in their hidden jobs. William Fontenot, Chi Epsilon and ASCE vice-president closed the evening with a benediction and thanksgiving.

Marquette University The 2010-2011 academic year was productive for the Marquette Uni-versity chapter of Chi Epsilon. During the fall semester, twelve new student members were initiated, including Steven Ainge, Patrick Barnhouse, Heath Brozovich, William Castedo, Mitchell Hansen, Klarissa Keadle, Sara Mar-ciniak, Alberto Marquez, Jonathan McAnally, Brandon Montalvo, Aaron Schneider, and Sara Zongolowicz. (see photo at right) In the spring semester, four new student members were initiated, including Anthony Callahan, Joseph Corrigan, Elyse O’Callaghan, and Michael Pirlott. (see photo at top of next page) After both initiation ceremonies members of the chapter enjoyed socializing and dining together. The new initiates joined other Chi Epsilon members, faculty, and guests for an informal dinner at a local restaurant. Each


semester the chapter members held meetings regularly and participated in social events. During the fall semester several members of the chapter participated in Al’s Run, a local run/walk to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. During the spring semester, the chapter held a service auction, where College of Engineering faculty members could bid to have members do tasks such as in exchange for a donation to the chapter. The chapter’s spring grocery shopping, babysitting, and yard work, service efforts also included a group of members par-ticipating in Hunger Cleanup, a volunteer event put on by Marquette University

to better the greater Milwaukee area. Many of the active members of the chapter also volunteered their time and energy to help the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Marquette University with the Open House. This past April, six seniors from the chapter were recognized during the College of Engineering Honors Convocation. These included Benjamin Borowicz, for Top Scholars in Curriculum, as well as Andrew Genz, Sean Howell, Katrina Kurniati, Samuel Michels-Boyce, and Christie Nguyen, for Scholastic Honors.

University of Maryland The University of Maryland Chi Epsilon chapter filled the 2010-2011 school year with a plethora of activi-ties. These events included a career fair, fall and spring initiations, fundraisers, and community service events. The Chi Epsilon civil engineering career fair was held on November 4, 2010. It was attended by represen-tatives from more than 20 companies, as well as a surplus of students seeking full time positions and internships. The fair provided the opportunity for students to learn how civil engineering is used in the workplace. Students were informed about what services different types of firms provide and how they relate to their academic inter-ests. Later in the fall, the chapter participated in a furniture build-off with the University of Maryland’s chapters of Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma. Teams from all of these societies built pieces of furniture, such as desks and tables, to donate to less fortunate individuals in the area. The furniture build-off gave students the opportunity to reach beyond their textbooks and experience firsthand the applications of their coursework and projects. Chi Epsilon’s fall initiation was held on December 1, 2010. The fall 2010 initiates were: Gibran Abi-fadel, Daniel Bisers, Jennifer Brodie, Jennifer Dicks, Seth Greenberg, Stephen Kamakaris, Maria Martel-lo, Michael McGehee, Allan Mitchell, Saad Rehman, Scott Scheine, Heungkook Stephens, Emma Weaver, and Shana Weisberg. The spring initiation was held on April 2, 2011. The spring 2011 initiates were: Javier Arias, Jeremy Bowers, Ellyce Bushong, Kevin Fries, Megan Hanifan, Brett Jacobs, Santiago Mejia, Daniel Nolan, An-drew Pender, Hussein Salad, and Josh Steininger. Towards the end of the spring semester, the new officers were elected. The officers for fall 2011 are: Maria Martello, president; Shana Weisberg, vice-president; Daniel Nolan, secretary; Seth Greenberg, treasurer; Gibran Abifadel, marshal; and Jeremy Bowers, associate editor. (see photo at right) As the chapter looks ahead to next year, there is much excitement over the chapter’s 50th anniversary celebration, the 2011 career fair, and many social events.


University of Massachusetts Amherst This year marked the induction of a new faculty advisor, Dr. Song Gao, as well as the initiation of student members Daniel Abrams, Zachary Achin, Shelby Basel, David Brehaut, Eric Cagnard, Kevin Connolly, Mi-chael Courtois, William Duane, Marc Fernandez, Michelle Fiorello, Hayley Franz, Jeffrey Gamelli, Joseph Grillo, Rebecca Guihan, Patrick Hanlon, Jahan Khalili, Caitlin Jenkins, Balazs Martai, Michael Masztal, Robert Morsi, Anders Olson, Joe Popielarczyk, Chad Quaglia, Piotr Rachtan, Nicholas Rossi, Scott Simo-nelli, Matthew Soltys, Tomer Soran, Tyler Swift, Ricky Torres-Cooban, Kevin Tringali, Matthew Wilder, and Patrick Yeo. Among these new initiated members, those elected to serve as officers for the upcoming fall and spring terms include Nicholas Rossi, president; Jahan Khalili, vice-president; Marc Fernandez, secretary; David Brehaut, treasurer; Shelby Basel, associate editor; and William Duane, marshal. Members of the chapter that served as officers for this year include Michael Nolden, president; Terence DaCosta, vice-president for the fall term; Tomer Soran, vice-president for the spring term; Saranthip Rattanaserikiat, secretary; Lauren Coles, treasurer; Elise Rotkiewicz, associate editor; and Lauren Stocker, marshal. Several activities and projects were undertaken that served for the benefit of the chapter members as well as all students and faculty in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. A professional seminar was held for all members, where Mr. Eric Bernardin, a senior associate at Fuss and O’Neill and member of Chi Epsilon, discussed his work in low impact development. Many members made contributions to the College of Engineering during open houses for incoming undergraduate students by hosting laboratory tours and informa-tion sessions with the assistance of the faculty and staff in the department. During the spring term, officers made arrangements with faculty in the department to hold nightly review sessions that all members of the junior and senior classes could attend to prepare for the FE exam. At the end of every term, all members volunteer their time to distribute course evaluations that are important tools for the faculty and department to make improvements in the curriculum. We would like to thank the current officers for all of their hard work and dedication to the Chi Epsilon chapter and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and we wish the best for the new officers as they continue to make this an outstanding student honor society within the University of Massachusetts Am-herst.

University of Miami During the 2010-2011 academic year, the University of Miami chapter continued to make large steps towards establishing ourselves as the premier honor society. The chapter initiated an excellent group of new members and became more involved in activities within the College of Engineering. Our new members are a diverse group with great enthusiasm about the progress to be made by the chapter in the next years. This year’s initiates are Christopher Gotschall, Wael Al Thuwaini, Michaela Walker, Ally-son Porges, Tiffany Brown, Bradley Piechoski, Henry Kreh, Wyatt Krapf, Karim Fayaz, Patricia Barreiro, Zahra Karim, Caitlin Lundell, Garrett Moore, Kevin Schwartz, Laura Vogel, and Shuai Xiao. We are very happy to welcome them and excited to spark their interest in the mission of Chi Epsilon. As the year comes to a close and we say goodbye to another class of outstanding graduating seniors, we also embrace the new chapter officers elected for the 2011-2012 academic year. Graduating this year are seven exceptional students—Eduardo Esteves, Jason Lecker, David Case, Maria Ronderos, Ashley Malinowski, Nick Feldt, and Patricia Barreiro—and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors. The officers that served this year were: David Case, president; Reem Madkour, vice-president; Eduardo Esteves, treasurer; Carrie Prestwood-Taylor, secretary; Allison Korth, associate editor; and John Plackemeier, marshal. The


new officers recently installed are: John Plackemeier, president; Allison Korth, vice-president; Kevin Schwartz, treasurer; Zahra Karim, secretary; Henry Kreh, associate editor; and Ryan Goolabsingh, marshal. Along with the our continued commitment to providing tutoring services to freshmen, this year our chapter made a first-of-its-kind arrangement with the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering. Due to budget cuts, the CAE department no longer hires teaching assistants, but instead hires graders to collect and grade homework for engineering classes. Finding honest, qualified, and willing people to be graders was a complicated, drawn-out process for the department and often ended in sub-par employees. Recognizing this bur-den, our chapter made a series of proposals to the department chair that eventually resulted in this agreement: The University of Miami chapter of Chi Epsilon will be fully responsible for selecting graders from amongst its own ranks for the department. Members of Chi Epsilon possess a rare combination of academic competence and high moral character that makes them perfect for these positions. This agreement brings extra income to our chapter and also for our students, and solidifies the high standing of our membership.

Michigan State University The Chi Epsilon chapter at Michigan State University (MSU) was pleased to initiate 11 new members on November 14th, 2010, and 6 new members on April 10th, 2011. All initiates displayed the esteemed qualities necessary for Chi Epsilon membership. The fall semester initiates were Mark Albery, Adam Beach, Wouter Brink, Ronell Eisma, Thomas Hoffman, Scott McGehee, Bri-an Schultz, Corbin St. Aubin, and Berkay Tascioglu (see photo at left). Five faculty members were also initiated: Dr. Rigoberto Burgueno, Dr. Jung-Wuk

Hong, Dr. Emin Kutay, Dr. Nizar Lajnef, and Dr. Venkatesh Kodur. Dr. Kodur was successively elevated to Chapter Honor Member (see photo below). The new spring initiates were Erik Easterly, Joseph Gorman, Hande Ozturk, James Rice, Ashley Roberts, and Danielle Walley. Congratulations to the new initiates and honor member. The MSU chapter of Chi Epsilon held bi-annual book sales as fundraisers. The chapter members would like to thank the MSU faculty and staff who donated the books that were sold. During spring semester, Chi Epsilon members also volunteered to help Dr. John Shinsky, the founder of The City of Children Orphanage in Matamoros Mexico. Dr. Shinsky used several CAD drawings produced by Chi Epsilon to help raise money for the project. In addition, the MSU chapter sent one student representative, along with the District Councillor from MSU, to the Chi Epsilon District Conclave in Toledo, Ohio. During the fall semester initiation, Corbin St. Aubin was elected to chapter vice-president as a new initiate. The chapter also recognized Steve Parse as its only outgoing officer and bid him success. During the spring semester initiation, the chapter elected five officers: Jun Deng, vice-president, previ-ously secretary; Erik Easterly, secretary; Ashley Roberts, treasurer; James Rice, marshal; and Joseph Gor-man, associate editor. The chapter bids farewell to the outgoing officers Sam Bell, Sri Kumar, Ryan Muscott, and Corbin St. Aubin and wishes them success. The annual Conrad Award was presented to Alex Russeau during the spring initiation. In addition, due to their demonstration of adherence to the principles of Chi Epsilon, Ryan Muscott and Sam Bell were selected to receive the NTH Consultants scholarship. Congratulations are also extended to Christopher Dean, president of the MSU Chi Epsilon chapter, who received the Chi Epsilon National Scholarship. The chapter would also like to congratulate Dr. Rick Lyles on his receipt of the national level James M. Robbins Excellence in Teaching Award. The membership would like to thank our faculty advisor, Dr. Gilbert Y. Baladi, for another year of service and guidance.CHAPTER ANNUAL REPORTS 17 FALL 2010

University of Mississippi During the 2010-2011 school year at the University of Mississippi, Chi Epsilon members and initiates be-came involved with many engineering-related activities. These activities included participation in our Engineers Without Borders Togo Project, the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Conference (concrete canoe, steel bridge, and surveying competitions), the 110th Anniversary Celebration of the University of Mississippi School of Engineering, and National Engineers Week. Initiates also acquired community service hours. Our chapter elected Dr. Cristiane Q. J. Surbeck, PE, as our new faculty advisor on August 30, 2010. On April 15, 2011, we initiated the following Chi Epsilon members: Preston Bridges, Stephen Burdine, Ben Coker, Kelsey Horton Cummins, Michael Gresham, Patrick Harrington, Bailey Hewes, Matthew Hosey, Thomas Kajdan, Randall Kirby, Allen Mauney, and Tracey Sisco. Newly elected officers are: Michael Gresham, president; Stephen Burdine, vice-president; Kelsey Horton Cummins, secretary; Thomas Kajdan, treasurer; Randall Kirby, associate editor; and Preston Bridges, marshal.

University of Missouri-Columbia In the fall semester of 2010, the University of Missouri-Columbia initiated 10 new members into Chi Ep-silon. The initiates’ names were Christopher Adrian, Marc Lueckenhoff, Nathan Volkers, Russell Voss, Joe Gilliam, Brandon Griffith, Jared Tate, Melanie Volk, Kyle Murphy, and Yang Song. The fall semester initia-tion was held on Thursday, October 28 in Lafferre Hall. The officers for the semester were Matthew Wheeler, president; Christopher Wilson, vice-president; Chelsea Smith, marshal; Alicia Thater, associate editor; Emily Boehm, secretary; and Julie Howell, treasurer. The faculty advisor is Carlos Sun. In the spring semester of 2011, the chapter initiated 9 new members whose names were Jonathan Loos, Sara Goebel, Andrew Horner, Audrey Freiberger, William Shoemaker, Jonathan Healy, Elizabeth May-field, Jessica Bales, and Benjamin Tappmeyer. The spring semester initiation was held on Thursday, April 21 in Lafferre Hall on the University of Missouri campus. The officers for the semester were Chelsea Smith, president; Joe Wiedemeier, vice-president; Alicia Thater, marshal; Emily Boehm, associate editor; Zach Clark, secre-tary; and Joe Gilliam, treasurer. The new officers for the next semester were elected at the initiation to be Alicia Thater, president; William Shoemaker, vice-president; Emily Boehm, marshal; Elizabeth Mayfield, secretary; Audrey Freiberger, associate editor; and Joe Gilliam, treasurer. At the dinner following initiation, Sara Goebel was awarded the top score on the initiation exam, and Audrey Freiberger won the best transit award. In both of the semesters, the semi-annual trash collection was held along Providence Road on Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, March 13. The trash collection is a part of Missouri’s Adopt-a-Highway program. In the fall semester a special community service project was held at the Mid-Missouri Food Bank in Columbia, Missouri. Members of Chi Epsilon worked to help package food for families within the Columbia area. In the fall semester, the members of Chi Epsilon participated in a team building activity on Saturday, October 2. The members of Chi Epsilon climbed the Alpine Tower at Venture Out in Columbia, Missouri.

Montana State University The Montana State University chapter of Chi Epsilon (MSU chapter) has been active in student support this past year. The MSU chapter coordinated review sessions for the FE examination, provided weekly tutoring sessions for students completing engineering mechanics courses, welcomed new and old members with socials, volunteered at the Science Olympiad and Lego Robotics Competition that took place at MSU, as well as at the


Engineer-A-Thon, a program that encourages engineering among middle school students. The FE review sessions have been our most successful program. Our chapter examined the FE exam specifications and determined nine general topic areas and five civil specific areas that could be reviewed. Our chapter then contacted various professors within the College of Engineering at Montana State University. These professors then donated their time to develop and present a review lecture for students planning to take the FE exam to help them become familiar with the exam topic areas. The review sessions concentrated on solving prob-lems with the supplied FE manual such that students could effectively use this manual during test time. The weekly tutoring program also was successful. Members of our chapter volunteered for two hours on Tuesday nights throughout the semester to provide assistance for students completing engineering mechanics course work. These sessions provided students with one-on-one assistance. Emphasis was placed on helping students develop problem solving techniques, which can be applied to future tests in engineering mechanics and all other coursework. The MSU chapter also was successful in recruiting new members. In the fall 2010 semester, the chapter initiated sixteen undergraduate members and in the spring 2011 semester, the chapter initiated four undergraduate members. Beyond college students, the MSU chapter also prepared and operated a booth at the Engineer-A-Thon, an event to excite middle school students about engineering. Middle school students visiting the MSU chapter’s booth make retaining walls using toilet paper and sand. During the 2010-2011 academic year, the MSU chapter was served by the following officers: David Schroeder, president; Nate Ward, vice-president; Tim White, treasurer; Mark Juras, secretary; Michael McK-enzie, marshal; and Jon Lovgren, associate editor. For the 2010-2011 academic year, the new officers are: Michael McKenzie, president; Ian Flemming, vice-president; Cooper Krause, secretary; and Kyle Palagi, marshal.

New Jersey Institute of Technology The officers for the 2010-2011 academic year included: Frank Lombardi, president; Joseph Kardos, vice-president; Jemima Johnson, secretary; Kelsey Johnson, treasurer; Keith Corkery, associate editor; and Rafal Worjcik, marshal.

On April 1, 2011, the NJIT Chi Epsilon chapter held their spring initia-tion for new members. (see photo at left) The members initiated included: John J. Cronin, Shabnam Darjani (Graduate), Bakhtiar Feizi, Kyle R. Frederick, Patrick J. Granitzki, Joseph J. Halmi, Kristina M. Ippolito, Yazdan Majdi (Graduate), Krupesh Patel, Archana Prasad, Jennifer M. Ramos, Jennifer R. Rivers (Graduate), Michael Sadowski, Angelika Slabiak, Jeffy Vorasitthanu-kul, Mehdi Zarei (Graduate), and Zijia Zhong (Graduate). Officers for the 2011-2012 academic year were also elected. The officers

elected include: Patrick J. Granitzki, president; John J. Cronin, vice-president; Archana Prasad, secretary; Shabnam Darjani, treasurer; Yazdan Majdi, associate editor; and Jeffy Vorasitthanukul, marshal.

New Mexico State UniversityChapter Officers The officers for fall 2010 were: Joye Moore, president; Samantha Connor, vice-president; Tony Hasen-ack, treasurer; Eric Visage, secretary; Isaac Harder, associate editor; and Keith Byrne, marshal.


The officers for spring 2011 were: Samantha Connor, president; Pietre Hamblin-Hatchell, vice-pres-ident; Tamara Cortez, treasurer; Ambica K. Pegallapati, secretary; Joye Moore, associate editor; and Juan Solis, marshal.Community Service and Fundraising Last fall, many of our members participated in an on-campus community service project called “Keep State Great,” which consists of beautifying the New Mexico State University campus by picking up trash and painting the sidewalks and handicap sections of the roads. Members also participated in cleaning up our chapter’s adopted highway. Our fall fundraising project was a bake sale held in front of our engineering complex. Mem-bers brought baked goods and sold them to students and faculty. We had a great turnout and everyone had a great time helping in these events. In the spring, our on-campus community service consisted of volunteering for the Southern New Mexico MathCounts Competition for middle school students from the area who competed individually and in teams to test their math skills. Chi Epsilon members volunteered to help grade and proctor the tests. Our off-campus com-munity service project consisted of helping an elderly lady, who had recently broken both hips, with her yard and house. Some of our members dug trenches for the sprinkler system while others helped clean the area for her. Our members also cleaned and picked up trash on our adopted highway as we do every semester. For fundraising in the spring, our Civil Engineering Department held a two-hour ethics seminar. Our Chi Epsilon chapter was in charge of passing around flyers and spreading the word for this class. The fee paid by at-tendees went to our chapter. Chapter Honor Members Our chapter initiated Walter G. Hines, PE as Chapter Honor Member in fall 2010. Walter Hines has more than thirty years of experience in water resources and environmental engineering. He received his BS in CE in 1966 and his MS in CE in 1967, both from New Mexico State University. He is currently employed as a Senior Engineer with CH2M HILL in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His responsibilities include managing and marketing water resource engineering projects throughout New Mexico and the southwest. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oregon. In spring 2011, our chapter initiated John C. Lommler, PhD, PE, D.GE as Chapter Honor Member. Dr. Lommler graduated with a BS in CE in 1969 and MS in CE in 1972 from the University of Akron in Ohio. He graduated in 1994 with a PhD in CE with a major in geotechnical engineering and minors in structural engineer-ing and geology from Ohio State University. Dr. Lommler is a registered Professional Engineer in Ohio and New Mexico and has over 40 years’ experience in geotechnical, structural and civil engineering. He is currently the Principal Geotechnical Engineer for AMEC Earth and Environmental Inc. in New Mexico and West Texas.Banquets and Awards The traditional Chi Epsilon banquet at NMSU follows the initiation cer-emony each spring and fall semesters and is always a wonderful social event for Chi Epsilon members. (see photo at right) Our fall banquet, in honor of new members and graduating seniors, was held with great success at the Hilton Gar-den Inn in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The NMSU-Chi Epsilon chapter Endowed Scholarships were presented to Chi Epsilon members Joye Moore (past-president) and Richard Archuleta, and the Conrad G. Keyes, Jr., PE, PS

Scholarship went to Richard Archuleta. Chapter past-presidents Joye Moore and Samantha Connor were honored as the “Fall 2010 Outstanding Senior of the College of Engineering” and “Spring 2011 Outstanding Senior of the Civil Engineering Department,” respectively. Our spring banquet was also well attended and was held at Lorenzo’s de Mesilla in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (see photo at left) The NMSU-Chi Epsilon chapter Endowed Scholarships were presented to Theresa Aragon (incoming


marshal) and Joye Moore, and Pietre Hamblin-Hatchell (incoming president) received the Gene Braithwaite Memorial Scholarship Several as Outstanding Junior. The 2010-2011 Faculty of the Year Award of the Civil En-gineering Department was presented to the chapter faculty advisor Dr. Paola Bandini.

Northeastern University Once again, the Northeastern University Chi Epsilon chapter has put another outstanding year into the record books. This past year, Chi Epsilon offered a robust and diverse tutoring service to our fellow undergraduate peers in civil engineering at Northeastern. Over the course of the fall and spring semesters, members of the chapter served as pro-bono tutors and covered topics including statics and strength of materials, structural analysis 1, fluid mechanics, and soil mechanics, as well as conducted general open office periods intended to reinforce specific concepts that are at the core of the civil engineering curriculum. This service greatly benefited many students in our program and was well received by both the students who frequented it and the department’s faculty. Chi Epsilon also organized its semi-annual FE review sessions. Chapter members arranged for civil en-gineering faculty to instruct evening review sessions in civil subjects including soils and materials, steel design, hydrology, concrete design, traffic engineering, structural analysis and statics, environmental engineering, differ-ential equations, and construction management to seniors preparing to take the FE exam. Students took very well to the review sessions and agreed that they were extremely accommodating. Another reoccurring event the chapter holds each semester is the Graduate School Information Session for undergraduates. As opposed to the student led sessions that were moderated by the officers of Chi Epsilon in the past, this year the newly appointed Chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Northeast-ern, Dr. Jerome Hajjar, offered his own perspective on the matter. Offering both a student perspective in addi-tion to a faculty perspective, the seminar was able to cover the breadth and depth of the topic from the application process, degree programs, grant applications, to career connectivity and everything in between. For the second year in a row, the Northeastern University Chi Epsilon chapter was very excited to give back to the local community to help fight hunger through the Boston CANstruction competition. (see photo at right) The chapter members raised over $5,000 in funds for materials and began a month long de-sign process of a canned food structure. This year’s 4,000 can structure, entitled “Good Grief,” consisted of a popular scene from the comic strip Peanuts featur-ing Charlie Brown sitting beside a sleeping Snoopy atop the doghouse. The structure was displayed on campus a week before the competition in the student center to raise awareness of food shortages around Boston food banks and then moved to the Bunker Hill Com-munity College – Charlestown Campus. The annual initiation ceremony was held on March 26, 2011, with great success in front of a packed house

of parents, faculty, and current XE members and alumni. The day included a lunch and the initiation of 19 new members! The newly initiated members are Christine Abichaker, George Andes, Andrew Baummer, Kristen Blackbird, Andrew Childs, Steve Earl, Stephen Eisenlord, Billy Gray, Stephen Johnson, Kathlene Keen, Sarah Keenan, Insiyah Lightwala, Mike Morrissey, Conor Murphy, Steven Palkovic, Nolan Scheemaker, William Tse, Makoto (Mac) Weinstein, and Rochelle Willis. In addition, the chapter initiated its new faculty advisor, Dr. Luca Caracoglia, during the ceremony. (see photo at left)


Other highlights of past year include the creation of a chapter t-shirt, development of a chapter website to foster membership connectivity, and an update of the chapter’s Constitution and By-Laws. In addition, graduat-ing senior and outgoing chapter president, Ezra Jampole, was awarded the 2011 Chi Epsilon Joseph L. Brandes National Scholarship in recognition of his outstanding academic work and excellent involvement in extracurricu-lar activities, particularly in Chi Epsilon. In May, the chapter saw the graduation of five of its former officers: Ezra Jampole, Jennifer Mitchell, Travis Mitchell, Gary O’Connell, and Ryan White. The chapter thanks them and all the other graduating mem-bers of Chi Epsilon, as they now become alumni, for their commitment to the chapter and wishes them all the best of luck in future endeavors. The new officers installed for the 2011-2012 academic year are as follows: Keith Hall, president; Alexis Holmdal, vice-president; Alex Reiff, secretary; Alex Fagnand, treasurer; Steve Earl, associate editor; Sarah Keenan, marshal; Kristen Blackbird, program coordinator; Andrew Childs, CANstruc-tion coordinator; Kathlene Keen, fundraising committee chair; and Rochelle Willis, webmaster. Looking ahead, the Northeastern chapter intends to expand on all horizons with activities that include: re-suming past sessions with professors to discuss undergraduate research opportunities; exploring the possibility of hosting the 2011 CANstruction competition on campus; holding training sessions in CAD and other engineering software; hosting general review sessions for the FE in addition to the civil-specific offerings; sending attendees to the 2012 Chi Epsilon National Conclave in Los Angeles; and exploring more avenues to reach out and support the community and encourage engineering as a profession.

University of Notre Dame This year, the Notre Dame chapter of Chi Epsilon focused its efforts on assisting the efforts of our advi-sor, Dr. Tracy Kijewski-Correa, in Haiti. Since the devastating earthquake in January 2010, Dr KC has been traveling down to evaluate, and attempt to improve, local construction practices. Chi Epsilon organized a char-ity drive of stickers for Haitian children and soap for the community that Dr. KC took to Haiti on her next trip. Unfortunately, we were unable to attend this year’s conclave due to prior commitments that weekend. The new officers, however, look forward to this opportunity. The Notre Dame chapter’s other major activity was the spring initiation and installation of new officers. Initiation occurred on Sunday, April 10, with 14 new members joining. Outgoing officers were: John LaBarge, president; Andrew Mullen, vice-president; Brittani Russell, secretary; Santiago Sanchez, treasurer; Jonathan Pfrommer, associate editor; and Andrew Ziccarelli, marshal. Incoming officers are: Eric Herbert, president; Steven Walsh, vice-president; Erin McGregor, secretary; Kyle Sandberg, treasurer; Ben Mall, associate editor; and Andrew Courtney, marshal.

Pennsylvania State University The Penn State chapter of Chi Epsilon initiated a 15 new members during the 2010-2011 academic year. Eight new members were initiated during the fall initiation on December 8, 2011 including: Christopher Bar-ber, Jeffery Gooch, Ryan Keck, Benjamin Kutz, James Murphy, Michael Porgorzelski, William Roll, and Michael Tandarich. The initiation was followed by dinner and a speech given by Dr. Harry West, Professor Emeritus specializing in structural engineering. Dr. West discussed the structural history of Beaver Stadium, Penn State’s iconic football stadium, including various modifications as well as structural issues with the sta-dium. Seven new members were initiated during the spring initiation on April 25, 2011, including: Mitchell


Collins, Matthew Garver, Jonathan Hamm, Hasib Hussain, Angela Moyer, Phillip Ramsey, and Matthew Snyder. The initiation ceremony was followed by dinner and a speech given by Professor Farshad Rajabi-pour. Professor Rajabipour, specializes in material science and sustainable construction, presented some of his research showing how to improve the value of using recycled glass bottles as aggregate as well as cement in concrete. Chi Epsilon members continued to host tours of the department to interested high school students and their families throughout the year. Chi Epsilon also arranged the review sessions for the FE exam, successfully sched-uling faculty support for review problem sessions prior to both the fall and spring FE exams. Discounted study material for the FE was also offered to students through Penn State’s Chi Epsilon chapter. Chi Epsilon officers were also asked to speak to representatives from industry, government and academia, on behalf of the chapter, at the annual IPAC (Industrial and Professional Advisory Council) meeting, detailing the work of the chapter throughout the year. New officers for the upcoming 2011/2012 academic year were also inducted on April 25, 2011: Mat-thew Garver, president; Jeffery Gooch, vice-president; Hasib Hussain, secretary; Matthew Snyder, treasurer; Benjamin Kutz, marshal; and Angela Moyer, associate editor. The entire Penn State chapter would like to wish the outgoing officers all the best as they pursue their future beyond graduation, and thank them for a wonderful year.

Rutgers University The Rutgers University chapter of Chi Epsilon looks to continue moving forward with a renewed interest in student involvement. This past year we attempted to branch out from under the shadows of ASCE in order to establish a name for Chi Epsilon in the Civil Engineering Department. A lunch and learn series held during our spring recruitment period attracted a number of undergraduate students. Events included a graduate school panel, a professor’s panel, a presentation from the facilities and utilities departments at Rutgers, as well as a presentation on Building Information Modeling from engineers at Hatch Mott MacDonald. This spring we welcomed eleven new members to Chi Epsilon under the guidance of our officers, Ken-neth Wasserman, Rebecca Cohen, Jennifer Ju, Ibrahim M. Janajreh, Mussie Eyob, Joseph Wilbur, Clifford Chang, and Robert Kudenchak. The incoming class consists of Trista Lee Kuna, Victoria Anne Gagliardi, Katrina Telan Pizarro, Andrew Allen Douglas, Kyle R Dronne, Jeffrey Scott Haberman, Navni Mehta, Gregory Thomas Bruno, Alexander Harry Rothstein, Alison Powell Wood, and Parth Hrushikesh Oza. We look forward to next year in hopes of further building off of the success of this past academic year.

Southern Methodist University The SMU chapter successfully conducted their fourth induction ceremony on April 21, 2011. The initia-tion ceremony was held on the SMU campus, in the Jerry R. Junkins Engineering building. In addition to induct-ing the members of the next class of Chi Epsilon, the chapter had the honor of inducting Dr. Khaled Abdelghany as faculty member. Chi Epsilon alumni, the SMU chapter’s faculty advisor, Bijan Mohraz, members of the SMU Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering, and the new members’ parents attended the initiation ceremony. For the coming year, the SMU chapter plans to raise awareness of the chapter and to encourage other civil engineering majors to strive to become a member of the chapter by taking part in school-sponsored events, especially volunteer opportunities. The SMU chapter also plans to hold several events to build intra-chapter rela-tions. Outgoing officers were: Michael Gruben, president; Elizabeth Corey, vice-president; Mary Moore,


treasurer/secretary; Jillianne Matus, marshal; and Sarah Shepard, associate editor. Incoming Officers are: Amy Heldenbrand, president; Patricia Coogan, treasurer/secretary; and Karen Rico, associate editor/marshal.

University of New York at Buffalo The officers for the 2010-2011 academic year were Lauren Schifferle, president; Will Seychew, vice-president; Wesley Frechette, secretary and associate editor; Nathaniel Bolt, treasurer and marshal; and Satish Mohan, faculty advisor. During the fall semester, the chapter conducted weekly study sessions near the end of the semester and had a trivia night activity. They also had study sessions in the spring semester. A highlight of the spring was a Buffalo Riverkeepers’ Shoreline Sweep at Veterans Park in Amherst.

Texas A&M University The Texas A&M chapter of Chi Epsilon held the fall 2010 banquet on December 4, 2010, at a local café and restaurant, Café Eccel. Our advisor, Dr. James Brumbelow, gave a warm and inspiring speech at the banquet. The officers for the upcoming semester are: Cynthia Vail, president; Julie Roessler, vice-president; Kristopher Swanson, treasurer; Damona Woodley, secretary; Brice Nichols, associate editor; and Benjamin Horner, pledge marshal. The chapter initiated 42 new members: Cynthia Reyna, Alyssa Polite, Maria Gon-zalez, Ann Reid, Clark Smith, Micaela Gomez, Eric Engelskirchen, Stacey Gibson, Calvin Crenwelge, Scott Sawyer, William Barry, Lara Attayi, Paul Banschbach, Matlyn McCoy, Geoffrey Raasch, Julius Slerivaneh, Amy Swackhammer, Jaqueline Diek, Damona Woodley, Nathan Williams, Matthew Honda, Christopher Prigmore, Charles Moore, Nathan Turner, Colten McCampbell, Russel Schulze, Cullen Harp-er, Jenna Kromann, Lance Ballard, Michael Dohnalik, Kevin Kining, Charles Holt, Scott Lefton, Seung Joo Paik, Benjamin Hornes, Robert Berg, Jacob Springer, Mark Pauls, Jorge Martinez, Roberto Portillo, Blake Bradley, and Jesus Guerra. These chapter nominees were required to fulfill one committee board require-ment, one service project, and attend two Chi-Epsilon socials. Committee obligations included cleaning the civil engineering common room and distributing stoles to graduating seniors. Nominees performed community ser-vice by joining in a community potluck for the homeless, donating to a local food bank, and assisting in a Special Olympics event. Much of the community service focused on ensuring the community had access to food during the winter months. Through donating goods and interacting at the potluck for the homeless, students were able to directly benefit the community and understand the need for local charity work. Our spring 2011 banquet is to be held again at Café Eccell on April 28th with Dr. Laurence Oeth, a se-nior capstone design course instructor, who has kindly agreed to speak. Nominees for membership this semester are: Yuzhen Liang, Tam Duong, Alejandro Zepeda, Megan Scudder, Lucas Ranallo, Samantha Du, Heon Woo Lee, Dyane Bates, Kelsi Litman, Michael Zahner, Erin Winston, Jack Pollard, and Alaine Walsh. The socials for this spring semester included a group meal at a restaurant, a barbeque cookout, and a trip to a local ice skating rink. Committee tasks involved cleaning the civil engineering common room and distributing stoles to graduating seniors. Chi Epsilon nominees partnered with the local chapter of the ASCE to perform community service events, which included participation in the hugely successful Big Event, a community improvement ini-tiative that is the largest single day service project in the nation. Big Event assigns student groups to community members to participate in projects in cleaning and improving homes and yards throughout the local area. Chi Ep-silon nominees also joined ASCE in the clean-up of a local street in another effort to give back meaningful work to our community.


University of Texas-El Paso During the spring of 2011, the UTEP Chi Epsilon chapter was involved in service to the community by members helping plant trees around the campus and had adopted a section of a local highway to keep up as a com-memoration of Earth Day. Also chapter members volunteered to work for the Animal Rescue League, helping run the animal shelter and socializing with unfortunate animals. As part of the chapter’s service to the Department of Civil Engineering, members assisted with the December Alumni Luncheon and participated in an engineering student Leadership Council Retreat. They also hosted and assisted in preparations for the spring Civil Engineer-ing Senior Banquet at the El Paso Club. The chapter had fundraising activities of an Engineering Cookout, selling hamburgers and hotdogs. In addition, they sold Civil Engineering Mugs to help gather funds for the organiza-tion. On December 14, 2010, for the fall semester, officers, accompanied by faculty member Dr. Carlos Chang, inducted the following student members: Sandy Everett, Gerardo Garcia, Mouyid B. Islam, Armando Ramirez, and Andrea Rios. (see photo at right) At the completion of the initiation, officers for the 2010-2011 school year were elected. These new officers are: Iskra Rodri-guez, president; Alicia Romo, vice-president; Luis Maldonado, secretary; Ga-briela Leyva, treasurer; Edgar Saucedo, associate editor; and Mouyid B. Islam, marshal.

University of Toledo It was an active year for the University of Toledo chapter of Chi Epsilon. In the fall, we had initiation, service projects, and fund-raising for the upcoming district conference, while in the spring, we had initiation, fund-raising, and hosted the Great Lakes District Conference. For the fall initiation on December 5, 2010, we initiated four new members including: Ryan A. Wagar, Lori A. Komorowski, Kimberly M. Coburn, and Alexander S. Kurtz. Each new member participated in their own service project. These included participating in high school tutoring, pizza sales and our ongoing sale of College of Engineering graph paper. Direct appeals to area engineering firms resulted in two significant donations that underwrote much of the participant costs for the upcoming district conference.

Our chapter hosted the 2011 Chi Epsilon Great Lakes District Conference on March 19, 2011. (see photo at left) The theme of the conference was ‘Civil Engineering Aspects of Alternative Energy.’ The conference consisted of the following: introduction/ice breaker, district councilor report, district business meeting, two guest speakers, and a tour of our newly renovated historic Memo-rial Field House. For the ice breaker, mixed teams from different chapters con-structed structures out of drinking straws which were able to support the weight of a softball. Dr. Thomas F. Wolff led the report and business meetings which involved the subjects of fund-raising and chapter customs for initiation into the

society. The first guest speaker was Charles Lehnert, UT Vice-President of Facilities and Construction, who discussed the use of alternative energies at the Scott Park Campus for Energy and Innovation of the University of Toledo. The second speaker was Robert Kozar, UT Director of Engineering Research Development who spoke about offshore wind turbine research projects on Lake Erie. The final part of the conference was a tour of the Memorial Field House renovation here at the University of Toledo. Memorial Field House is a historic WPA structure previously used as convocation center that had been sitting unused for several years. In 2009 it was fully renovated into an energy efficient, state-of-the-art classroom building that has been designated LEED Gold


Certified. The district conference was a great success and fun for all involved. At the spring ceremony we initiated one new member, Corrine Nauer, on May 1, 2011. On that same date, we also installed new officers who include: Todd Cereghin, president and Corrine Nauer, vice-president. Returning officers include: Kimberly M. Coburn, secretary/treasurer; Brad Brocker, associate editor; and Clinton Kuenzli, marshal.

Trine University The Trine University chapter enjoyed continued success for the fall 2010 and spring 2011 academic year. The Trine University chapter welcomed Adam Sitka and Derek Marucci in the fall 2011 semester and Ryan Braun, Johnathon Short, Sarah Lelli, and Kelly Canter in the spring 2011 semester. The officers for the spring 2011 semes-ter were as follows: Katlyn Pero, president; Matt Shergalis, vice-president; Melissa Terry, secretary; Nick Savage, treasurer; Michael Kalberg, associate editor; and Derek Marucci, marshal. The newly elected officers for the fall 2011 semester are: Katlyn Pero, president; Melissa Terry, vice-president; Kelly Canter, secretary; Michael Kalberg, treasurer; Derek Marucci, associate edi-tor; and Adam Sitka, marshal. (see photo at right)

The Trine chapter of Chi Epsilon participated in a service project for Pok-agon State Park. (see photo at left) In the 1930’s, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed army barracks to house men between 18-25 years of age while they worked on various projects. The members conducted a stake survey to identify the location of the barracks so the Civilian Conservation Corps camp is not lost to history. Chi Epsilon members Nick Savage and Matt Shergalis participated a MSE wall competition in Texas. They designed the wall out of paper to coun-teract 500 pounds of sand, a 50 pound surcharge load, and a 25 pound load that was hung in front of the wall. Current vice-president Melissa Terry and marshal

Adam Sitka participated in a charity event called Plankapalooza. They created a replica of the Patronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They were awarded the prize for Most Creative.

University of Utah For the past academic year, with the support and guidance of Dr. Janice Chambers, the faculty advisor, the University of Utah chapter of Chi Epsilon strived to demonstrate the four pillars of Chi Epsilon—Scholarship, Character, Practicality, and Sociability—to contribute to the community of civil engineering students at the uni-versity. To demonstrate the honor society’s pillars, the University of Utah chapter volunteered, planned socials, initiated new members, and elevated a member as our Chapter Honor Member. Scholarship. All active members are required to maintain or exceed the scholastic standing as stipulated by the Constitution. Officers of the past academic year, Levi Roberts, president; David Thomas, vice-president; Annie Weidner, secretary; Andrea Umphenour, treasurer; Tommy Nguyen, associate editor; and Daniel Young, marshal, have continued their academic excellence throughout the year and directed the existing and new members to follow suit. Academic achievements and maintaining the required scholastic standard distinguishes the twenty newly initiated members this year. (see photo at right)CHAPTER ANNUAL REPORTS 26 FALL 2010

The new initiates are: Parker Bradley, Dylan Brown, Titus Cordingly, Tony Curtis, Darren Dickson, Mi-chael Eixenberger, Zach Gibbs, Benjamin Hansen, Jeffery Jones, Shawn Malan, Blayde McIntire, Rex Memmott, Jared Miller, Lior Rosen, Thomas Sabin, Elizabeth Toone, Sean Wareing, Kalen Wilson, Mat-thew Yates, and Arthur Yeomans. The new officers were nominated and elected from the chapter’s members that showed perseverance in scholastic excellence and are as follows: Shawn Malan, president-elect; Dylan Brown, vice-president-elect; Thomas Sabin, secretary-elect; Blayde McIntire, treasurer-elect; Michael Eixen-berger, associate editor-elect; and Kalen Wilson, marshal-elect.

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), Chi Epsilon, chapter 72, has been productive in chapter activity and community involvement over the 2010-2011 academic year. Last fall, Chi Epsilon officers scheduled review sessions for UVM undergraduates intending on taking the fall FE examination. Chi Epsilon officers held a fund raiser by selling FE review books to students eligible to take the fall FE review. We raised $400.00, and $50.00 allotments are scheduled to be given to the UVM ASCE student chapter for their steel bridge project and the UVM EWB student chapter to help fund a future 2011-2012 project. Chi Epsilon officers, supported the engineering faculty in student registration. Last spring, Chi Epsilon officers scheduled review sessions for UVM undergraduates intending on tak-ing the spring FE examination. Chi Epsilon officers held initiation for incoming members and elections for the proceeding cabinet. The 2010-2011 Chi Epsilon cabinet met on May 6, to outline and discuss our goals for the summer and upcoming academic year. It has been decided to increase the number of fundraisers and to continue scheduling of the FE review sessions. The current and incoming Chi Epsilon officers are optimistic about the up-coming school year and as always encourage all members to be active and positive members of our community.

Villanova University The Villanova University chapter of Chi Epsilon had a very successful 2010-2011 academic year under the leadership of faculty advisor Dr. Edward Glynn. The chapter continued its tutoring services to the underclassmen in civil engineering and advised freshmen engineering students who were thinking of pursuing civil engineering in the years to come. On March 12, 2011, the chapter initiated fifteen new members (see photo at left) including, Brian Farina, Yazid El Hilali, Teresa Lord, Nicholas Mascitelli, Patrick McLaughlin, Francis Nagel, Colleen O’Neil, Matthew Panzitta, David Reichmann, Philip Reilly,

Joseph Shook, Spencer Stevens, Robert Stone, Emily Suhey, Krista Sullivan, Erin Wythoff, and Colleen Zagar. During the spring semester, new officers were also appointed and inducted. These officers are Krista Sullivan, president; Philip Reilly, vice-president; Yazid El Hilali, marshal; Spencer Stevens, treasurer; Patrick McLaughlin, secretary; and Colleen O’Neil, associate editor. The newly inducted board and members are opti-mistic about the future of Chi Epsilon at Villanova University.


University of Virginia On Apr 20th, 2011, eleven new members were initiated and new officers elected. (see photo at right) The new members are: Theodore G. Wyeth, James T. Johnston, Johanna M. Innamorato, Lynna Nguyen, Brian L. Slaughter, Kevin Albanese, Elizabeth A. Engel, Kimberley K. Chong, Emily J. Rigby, Rachel M. Schmidt, and Stephen J. Franks. The 2011-2012 University of Vir-ginia Chi Epsilon officers are Daniel HaileSelassie, president; Stephen J. Franks, vice-president; Elizabeth A. Engel, associate editor; Rachel M. Schmidt, secre-tary; Emily J. Rigby, treasurer; and James T. Johnston, marshal. Several of our members are graduating in May 2011, and entering graduate studies. Ethan Heil will branch off into environmental science here at the University of Virginia while Caroline Price goes off to study environmental engineering at Penn State University. James Johnston will stay at Virginia to research transporta-tion engineering and Lynna Nguyen will travel to the University of Maryland for her transportation engineering. In addition, Bailey Wilson will be working for Turner Construction in Arlington, Virginia, and Nina Ruhter will be a water resources research assistant at the University of Virginia.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute The Virginia Tech chapter of Chi Epsilon had a very successful and eventful year. Thirty-five students were initiated in the fall and thirty students again in the spring. The chapter was pleased to elevate Dennis Kam-ber and Mike Quillen as Chapter Honor Members. Current members and new initiates participated in the bi-annual Adopt-A-Spot highway clean-up and volunteered in weekly tutoring sessions for undergraduate students in need of further academic guidance. The chapter participated in an outreach program with a local elementary school to expose the students to the disci-pline of civil engineering; the outreach program was the idea of chapter member Mike Klapmeyer. The chapter teamed with the ASCE student group at Tech, and successfully connected members with future employers through networking socials in the fall and spring. The chapter also participated in the school’s Civil Engineering Research Day, where students from the department could create posters to show the research that they have been working on. Tutoring Coordinator Mallory Barkdull won the award for best undergraduate research poster. The 2010-2011 officers were: Nash Pleasant, president; Roger Arnold, vice-president; Francis Pesce, secretary; Stephen Litsas, treasurer; Nick Fugaro, marshal; Mallory Barkdull, tutoring coordinator; and Jaque Dalrymple, webmaster. The incoming officers selected are: Stephen Litsas, president; Nick Fugaro, vice-president; Francis Pesce, secretary; Erin Littleton, treasurer; Stephanie Welch, marshal; Robert Heitz, tutoring coordinator; and Lauren McAnallen, associate editor. Keeping with tradition, past officers were commended for their service over dinner and shared their experiences with the incoming officers. The new executive board hopes to further the community outreach of the chapter and build stronger campus awareness of the society.

Wayne State University On April 29th, 2011, eleven new members to the Chi Epsilon honor society were initiated. These mem-bers were: Ali Badaoui, Jacob Finkelman, Nicole Ball, Benjamin Gorczyca, Philip Swanson, Emira Rista, Jacquelyn Kawa, Honey Um Maria, Timothy Carter, Eric Andersen, and Alaa Chehab, Sr. The outgoing officers, Anthony Vitti, president; Jason Pittenger, vice-president; Giampiero Serra, secretary/treasurer;


Renardo Bezati, marshal; and Jamil Jamil, associate editor, installed the newly elected Nicole Ball, president; Ben Gorczyca, vice-president; Phil Swanson, secretary; Emira Rista, treasurer; Jacob Finkelman, marshal; and Ali Badaoui, associate editor.

Following the initiation ceremony, the annual Chi Epsilon banquet was held at Mario’s Italian Restaurant in the heart of Detroit’s Cultural Center near Wayne State’s Midtown campus. (see photo at left) In addition to outgoing officers and new members, the banquet was attended by a great many faculty and alumni. The festive mood at the banquet was augmented by a new attendance record. If the

activities and accomplishments of 2010/2011 are any indication, 2011/2012 is sure to be a stellar year for Wayne State University Chi Epsilon. The 2010/2011 academic year brought a new tradition for the Wayne State University Chi Epsilon chap-ter; new initiates were given wood stakes and instructions for creating an engineering slope stake. Every stake required an etching of the Chi Epsilon insignia along with the signatures of all current officers, faculty members, and the other initiates. Recognition was given for creativity, workmanship, and extra effort toward acquiring the signatures of general members and alumni. The objective of this task was to instill a sense of unity among initi-ates as well as to empower the initiates to seek out contact with other members who serve in leadership roles. Ul-timately, the inaugural year of the slope stake obligatory was an outstanding success, and plans for an expansion of chapter sponsored community service projects are underway. Nearly every student initiated in 2011, as well as every officer installed in 2010, participated in one of two engineering design competitions: the ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition (see photo at right) and WERC International En-vironmental Design Competition. WSU Chi Epsilon members performed admi-rably and earned a 4th place finish in the North-Central Region Concrete Canoe Competition and a 3rd place in the Clean Energy Water Treatment System cat-egory at the WERC Competition in Las Cruz, New Mexico. Additionally, WSU chapter vice-president and marshal, Jason Pittenger and Renardo Bezati represented WSU Chi Epsilon at the Great Lakes Region Conclave hosted by the University of Toledo on March 19th, 2011. Pittenger and Bezati appreciated the opportunity to interact with members from other chapters and brought back several ideas for expanding chapter fund raising and activity.Alumni News Notes: Brendon Russo received first place honors (Michigan Section and Great Lakes District) for his submis-sion, “Analysis of Severity and Frequency of Michigan Highway-Rail Grade Collisions” in the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Daniel B. Fambro Student Paper Awards. Jennie Schalk was awarded the ITE-Michigan Section Scholarship and the Women in Transportation Scholarship (WTS) Helene M. Overly Memo-rial Graduate Scholarship. Luke Mackewich was presented with the WSU Engineering Student Faculty Board (ESFB) Community Service Award and participated in the WERC Environmental Design Competition.

West Virginia University Over the past year, the West Virginia University chapter of Chi Epsilon has had two major events. The first event was an induction of new members into the chapter. This took place on December 1, 2010, and four new members were initiated into the chapter. The new members’ names are Colton Anderson, Me-lissa Mack, Mitch McBrayer and Stephanie Spangler. The second event was another member initiation and the installation of new officers. This meeting took place on April 20, 2011. (see photo at left) Six new members were brought into


the chapter. Numerous officer positions were replaced. Daniel Estep took over as the new chapter president, and Colton Anderson took the office of vice-president. Melissa Mack is the new marshal of the chapter, and Mitch McBrayer took over as the associate editor. The other officer positions remained the same.

University of Wisconsin-Madison During the 2010-2011 school year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Chi Epsilon chapter saw their group transform as many new members were welcomed. The group came together to participate in volunteer-events as well as begin some new practices geared at informing the entire civil engineering department, faculty, and students about the practices and focus of Chi Epsilon. In the fall, Chi Epsilon focused its energy on Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods. The event is hosted by the Madison chapter and fosters a friendly competition with the other engineering organizations to see who can collect the most non-perishables. The event was successfully run and the collected food was donated to our local branch of Second Harvest Food Pantry. On December 5th, 2010, the Chi Epsilon initiation banquet welcomed Brent Flaten, Bridget Geissler, Katie Nagel, Alyssa Offutt, Tom Rehwaldt, and Robert Ringle. The officers elected to lead during the spring 2011 semester were: Jason Lyons, president; Alyssa Offutt, vice-president; Rob Ringle, secretary; Brent Flaten, treasurer; Tom Rehwaldt, pledge marshal; and Bridget Geissler, associate edi-tor. In the spring, Chi Epsilon volunteered for MathCounts!. For this local state-wide math contest for elementary and middle school students, the mem-bers of Chi Epsilon helped administer and grade the tests. Chi Epsilon also held a spring initiation on May 1st, 2011. The following people became members: Kevin Andersen, Alexandra Beletic, Brian Boelter, Paul Economos, Edward Jung, Andrew Long, Brian Meister, Michael Schneider, Christian Sternke, and Abigail Wedig. (see photo at right) The newly elected officers for the fall 2011 semester are: Bridget Geissler, president; Bryan Pitterle, vice-president; Abigail Wedig, secretary; Ed-ward Jung, treasurer; Andy Long, pledge marshal; and Alexandra Beletic, associate editor.


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