Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology-NEWS

Rose-Hulman's American Society of Civil Engineers Student Chapter Named Nation's Best

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Cecil Lobo chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers has received the Robert Ridgway Award as the nation's best chapter based on outstanding community service, professional activities, campus service and chapter performance reports. This marks the second time that Rose-Hulman’s chapter has received this honor.

2005 ASCE Chapter Officers: Leading the Cecil Lobo chapter of ASCE were (from left) Cory Howell, president; Andrew Twarek, vice president; Michael Reeves, treasurer; and David Pirnia, secretary. The chapter had 68 members during the 2004-05 program year.

Patrick Natale, ASCE executive director, cited Rose-Hulman’s chapter for “excellence in the effective and meritorious conduct of its affairs as a student chapter of ASCE through the ability and professional diligence of the Chapter officers, members and faculty advisors.”

The chapter’s community service project for a handicapped West Terre Haute woman was commended by the ASCE Ridgway Award review panel. Approximately 20 members spent three Saturdays finishing a 900 square foot home for a woman who had become homeless following a house fire. Students finished the roof, placed plywood on exterior walls and enclosed the structure with plastic house wrap material to seal out moisture. New stairs for the front and back porches, including a wheelchair ramp, were also installed. The yard was also cleaned up. The project was completed at nearly no cost to the woman, other than the materials she purchased independently. Project managers were Philip Griffith and Jeffery Poole.

Other service projects completed in 2004-05 were the annual Christmas Basket Fund Drive, which raised a record $3,528; a fund-raising golf tournament for the Wabash Valley Habitat For Humanity organization, and providing educational programs for local middle school and high school students interested in learning more about civil engineering.

Giving Back To Community: Rose-Hulman ASCE member Philip Griffith, a 2005 civil engineering graduate, works on a section of community service project that finished parts of a home for a woman who had become homeless following a house fire. Approximately 20 ASCE members worked on the project, coordinated by Griffith and fellow 2005 graduate Jeffery Poole.

"Community service is what puts our ASCE chapter above its peers and paves the way for our students to become professional engineers that are good citizens in the future," said Kevin Sutterer, ASCE’s faculty advisor. “The credit all goes to our students. They do all the work, complete the service projects and file the necessary reports to qualify for such high honors. Our chapter is highly respected by our peers throughout the country.”

On-campus chapter activities included quarterly cookouts and social events for all Rose-Hulman civil engineering students, publishing a quarterly magazine, and hosting a banquet this past winter that recognized the accomplishments of alumnus and world renowned structural engineer Alfred Yee of Hawaii.

Rose-Hulman’s ASCE chapter includes 68 students. The 2004-05 chapter officers were Cory Howell, president; Andrew Twarek, vice president; Michael Reeves, treasurer; and David Pirnia, secretary. Professional contact members are Kevin Forbes, director of engineering for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Jim McKinney, Rose-Hulman’s R.C. Hutchins Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering.

Department of Civil Engineering Chair Robert Houghtalen pointed out that the Ridgway Award capped an outstanding year for the 2005 senior class of civil engineering students. The class also had a 100 percent passing rate on the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and completed professional-quality senior year design projects.