Page 6 - CEGE Magazine - Fall 2021

CEGENEWS CONT ...
MORGAN KUEHN (P.E., BCE 2016, MS 2017) was elected Chair of the Minne- sota Structural Engineers Association Younger Member Group (MNSEA YMG). Prior to becoming Chair, Kuehn was active as a MNSEA member and served as YMG Student Liaison. In that role, she often presented to CEGE students, particularly in the Capstone class.
CHIEH “JACK” OUYANG (MSCE 1960) established two scholarships in CSE. The scholarships support students in civil engineering and mathematics (in honor of his wife I-Fei Tsai, MS mathematics 1963). The first recipient was FADILA ZIDANI (BCE 2021). TOMAS MIGUIELES
and IVAN CONTRERAS DALAL received 2020-21 Chieh and I-Fei Ouyang Scholarships in Civil Engi- neering. This year’s CEGE recipients are EMIRLAN ASKERBEKOV and HANNAH DELKER.
EBRAHIM SHEMSHADIAN (Ph.D. 2020, advised by Mihai Marasteanu) started a new position as a Research and Development Analyst at MiTek, a global company focused on providing inte- grated software, services, engineered products, and automated solutions for the building industry.
QUINN WHITING
(MS 2020, advised by Bill Arnold) was awarded one of only two 2021 Master’s Thesis Awards from the Association of
Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP). Whiting’s thesis, “Fluorinated Photoproduct Formation from Photolysis of Fluorinated Pharma- ceuticals and Phenols,” contributes a new method of tracking fluorine during reactions of pollutants.
FENG (FRANK) XIAO (P.E., M.ASCE, Ph.D. 2012, co-advised by John Gulliver and Matt Simcik) recently received the prestigious NSF CAREER Award ($500,000). Xiao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering University of North Dakota and Associate Editor of the ASCE’s
Journal of Environmental Engineering. His areas of expertise encompass water treatment, chemistry, carbon, soil, and public health.
YUFENG ZHANG (MS 2019, Ph.D. 2021, advised by Alireza Khani) started a faculty position at Beijing Jiaotong University this fall.
STUDENTS
Twelve new members were initiated into the Chi Epsilon Honor Society
for 2021 in an online ceremony: BLAKE ANDERT, JUSTIN BABCOCK, ZACHARY BAKER, REESE JOHNSON, CARL LIND, SARAH MCGUIGGAN, HENRY MEEKER, LIAM MULLEN, ALLIE NGUYEN, JAKE ROBBENNOLT, BENJAMIN ROSENBLAD, and
NAHUM YELIZAROV. The society’s faculty adviser is LAUREN LINDERMAN (top row, second from left).
SVETLANA BARANOVA (Ph.D. candi- date advised by Sonia Mogilevskaya) received the UMN President’s Student Leadership and Service Award.
The Minnesota Surveyors and Engineers Society (MSES) awarded $48,000 in scholarships for the 2021-22 academic year. Nine of
the recipients were from CEGE:
JUSTIN BABCOCK, DYLAN BLOM, JEAN DONALD CHARLES, TESSA EDGE, MADELINE FIDLER, REESE JOHNSON, NICHOLAS ROSSINI, NOAH STRUCK, and ANTHONY (AJ) TABURA. MSES is dedicated to investing in Minnesota’s transportation infrastructure profes- sionals.
Each year CEGE employs two students to support outreach to K-12 and pro- spective students. They promote inter- est in the University, the department,
and in careers in civil, environmental, and geo- engineering through events such as the Minnesota State Fair, Civil Engineering Day, MathCOUNTS, Major Exploration, Orientation, etc. They often run demonstrations, organize outreach events for K-12 programs and class- rooms, conduct prospective student tours. CEGE Outreach Coordinators
for 2021-22 are ETHAN MYERS and ANTHONY (AJ) TABURA.
CEGE’s outreach team has gathered and created educational resources
for K-12 students. These lessons and activities highlight the basics of civil, environmental, and geo- engineering and introduce students to these careers. Resources include Minnesota education standards that are covered by each activity. For more information about these educational resources, please contact CEGE’s outreach team at cegetour@umn.edu.
OTHMAN OUDGHIRI-IDRISSI (Ph.D. candidate advised by Bojan Guzina) received the Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Best Paper award at the 2021 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference. His paper, “An Elastic Waveform Tomography of Spent Nuclear Fuel Casks,” presents a novel, non-destructive evaluation technique to identify and characterize spent nuclear fuel assemblies within sealed storage canisters. The new evaluation tech- nique was developed collaboratively with researchers from the University of Southern California and is sponsored by the US Department of Energy via the Nuclear Energy University Program.
NICK TECCA (graduate student advised by John Gulliver) presented at the
2021 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 23–26, 2021. The presentation, “Evaluating the Accuracy in Infiltration Measurements using Field Methods and Numeric Simulations,” was based on research co-authored
by Tecca, John Gulliver and John Nieber (Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering).
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