Amber Brown discusses Federal Highway Administration internship

Teresa Donnellan — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 15:07:57 +0000

Amber Brown discusses Federal Highway Administration internship Teresa Donnellan Thu, 10/20/2022 - 11:07

Despite having graduated high school in the teeth of the covid-19 pandemic, Amber Brown has made the most of her time on campus. After a freshman year that was almost entirely remote, Brown felt deprived of a year of involvement in campus life and student organizations. She remembers frantically searching during her sophomore year for a way to gain experience in her field, civil engineering.

“It's actually crazy, because I've always been scared to reach out to teachers, not because they're not open. It's more so because it's just new and uncomfortable. I'd never really done that before, networking with your teacher.”

Brown’s statics teacher mentioned his organization was hiring, which gave Brown the courage to reach out to him.

"I emailed him, and I was like, ‘Hi, I really enjoyed your class today. I heard you were hiring. Is there anything [for me]? If not, I understand.’ He sent me the program [information], and he's like, ‘Yeah, apply, and I'll put a good word in for you.’”

Brown became an intern at the US Department of Transportation Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups, or the STIPDG program, run through The Washington Center. She worked on the Climate Challenge Program in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

"I got really lucky,” Brown says, "because my mentor was a lead manager. So it kind of allowed me to see the other side of engineering. I did a lot of organizational skills and management work on [things] like planning, webinars, [and] proposals. I was mirroring project managers.”

She adds, “It was an exciting time, everyone was saying, because Biden was just passing legislation giving out money ... as it relates to anything sustainability.”

The program “relates to tracking greenhouse gases, which is done via an LCA, a life cycle assessment, or an EPD, an environmental project declaration,” Brown explains. In her role, Brown kept tabs on the program’s email inbox, made updates as needed to the program’s website and shared documents, and wrote up meeting agendas and event plans.

"I was in a bunch of meetings ... helping plan webinars to get information out,” she says, adding, “My favorite part was just seeing where states are at as it relates to tracking greenhouse gases. It's kind of crazy, because transportation is the biggest producer of greenhouse gas emission, and doing this is going to allow us to track it, make better aggregates, and all that stuff. So I was able to learn a lot about pavements and design.”

“I definitely think it gave me a lot of insight,” Brown reflects. When asked how the internship influenced her career plans, the junior says, “I'm still trying to figure out which avenue of civil [engineering to pursue], because I didn't realize it was so big.” She explains, “That internship gave me more of the construction management side, which I love. But now I kind of want to get more into...the field engineering side of it, seeing what that is and what that looks like. Then maybe I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do when I graduate.”

Topics

networking

American Society of Civil Engineers

civil engineer

Civil Engineering

civil engineering; stormwater infrastructure; climate variability

A Series of Firsts for Mason's ASCE Teams

Tama Moni — Wed, 11 May 2022 17:57:33 +0000

A Series of Firsts for Mason's ASCE Teams Tama Moni Wed, 05/11/2022 - 13:57

In This Story

Doaa Bondok

At Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing, you can expect students who are passionate about their field, hardworking, and goal-oriented in achieving their tasks. That kind of work ethic and enthusiasm exists within the students of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – Mason chapter. This year, two Mason ASCE teams won first place in the Region 2 Mid-Atlantic West Symposium competitions, for their steel bridge and sustainable solutions projects for the first time.

Seif Ali, team leader of the steel bridge team, said his goal, from day one, was for his team to win nationals. “I just wanted to make sure that everyone understands that we’re not just here to compete, but to learn,” Ali says. He joined the Mason chapter of ASCE last fall and immediately signed up for the open leadership spot on the steel bridge team – becoming the leader last October. He said that there were few opportunities to join student organizations during the pandemic and that joining this organization was an opportunity to try something different.

Ali said his team built a bridge with plates and members and used the fabrication method to weld and join the metal parts together to create the bridge. A local engineering firm, Nasir and Associates, helped the team by not only providing supplies, but also giving them valuable experience-based recommendations.

The cancellation of his former team landed Nicholo Gadiana, in the leadership role of the sustainable solutions team. “I built the team three months before the competition,” Nicholo says. Faced with the challenge of time constraints and deadlines, Gadiana made sure his team followed the rules in building their project. He said the hardest part of leading his team was maintaining communication between members and finding locations to meet.

The theme for the sustainable solutions competition this year was “The Tiny Home challenge.” Gadiana said his team had to create a model of 10 sustainable tiny homes, that could contain a loft bed, bathroom, kitchen, and living and dining area. The competition rules required that the house must be around 400 square feet and sit on 1.07 acres of land. This team used 3D modeling software to sketch the layout of the houses and design it. For their sustainable part of the project, Gadiana said they came up with using a rainwater soil system, which absorbs the water and lessens the need for concrete in depositing overflowing water.

“In summary, I think it’s the practical side. We provide students with the resources and support to develop them professionally, help them progress well towards their career, gain skills to be able to find a job, to speak about themselves, build on their soft skills,” says Doaa Bondok, faculty advisor for ASCE and Assistant Professor in the Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering Department.

Another win from the ASCE Region 2 Mid – Atlantic West Symposium, was Mason’s surveying competition team who won second place in their competition. Team members include: Nikolas Hawley, (Survey Party Chief), Christian Harar, (Assistant Survey Party Chief), Kai Barner, Survey Technician (Instrument Man), Margaret Freeman, Survey Technician (Chain Man), Siddarth Achar, Survey Technician (Rod Man).

Topics

American Society of Civil Engineers

competitions

student leadership

Sustainability