CEGE NEWS Fall 2023 - Students

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The new Chi Epsilon initiates are ANTHONY ALMEIDA, IAN BRUDNAK VOSS, PETER DEHNERT, RON HEIFETZ, SETH HILL, KENNY HOANG, TIMOTHY JOHNSON, HANS LAGERQUIST, DYLAN MARSKE, IAN MCPHEE, and ETHAN ROSSOW. Pictured with current members ANDREW HYDE, BERIT KLEIN, MADELINE FIDLER and MARIA CIENIAWSKI.

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities ASCE Student Chapter is in the top third of all ASCE Student Organizations, earning a Letter of Honorable Mention for its outstanding activities as recorded in the 2022 Student Chapter annual report. The Chapter’s accomplishments reflect the enthusiasm and hard work of its student officers and members, and faculty advisor Jia-Liang Le.

OLUTOONI B. AJAYI, a graduate student advised by Paige Novak, received the 2023 Academic Excellence Award for University of Minnesota from the Central States Water Environment Association (CSWEA). Her hard work and academic effort was recognized by her teachers. The award was presented during the 96th Annual Meeting Awards Event held at the St. Paul RiverCentre in May. MSES awarded 17 scholarships, reflecting a total of $34,000, for the 2023-2024 academic year. Three recipients are from the UMN Twin Cities, KENNY HOANG, HANS LAGERQUIST, and IAN MCPHEE, who also received the Weinel Scholarship Designation.

PHOEBE KEYES was selected to receive a $5,000 2023-2024 Danaher/ARCS Foundation Scholar Award from the Minnesota Chapter of ARCS Foundation. ARCS focus is on improving access and support for underrepresented students to excel in STEM education and careers.

TIANYI LI, a graduate student advised by Raphael Stern, presented research they worked on with Ben Rosenblad, Shi’an Wang, and Mingfeng Shang at the 2023 IEEE Intelligent Vehicle Symposium (IV) in Anchorage Alaska. He met up with SHI’AN WANG, his co-researcher and recent CEGE graduate, who is now an assistant professor at University of Texas at El Paso.

MCKENZIE PEARSON (master’s student advised by Bill Arnold) received the 2023 Environmental Engineering and Science Foundation (EESF) Scholarship for Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering. “I am passionate about creating sustainable solutions to the large environmental issues that we face today. I am very grateful to EESF for helping support my studies,” said Pearson. She chose UMN because “the professors and staff in CEGE were so welcoming and open to talking through all my options. They went the extra mile to make the admissions process personal. I really appreciate that culture.” 

NOAH STRUCK, a structural engineering student in the Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s program, received an ACI Foundation Fellowship for 2023-2024. This year the ACI Foundation awarded 19 fellowships and 14 scholarships to students from 27 different institutions. Struck represented UMN and CEGE at an international level at the 2023 Spring ACI Concrete Convention and was president of the Interdisciplinary Transportation Student Organization (ITSO). He credits his leadership experience in CEGE for opening opportunities such as the ACI Foundation Fellowship.

Thesis Defenses

TAREQ BASTAWISY, MS, (pictured with his advisor Boya Xiong) May 22, 2023. “A simple, affordable, nature-enabled antiviral face covering for airborne coronavirus control.”

GRETCHEN GUTENBERGER, MS (advised by Paige Novak and Bill Arnold) May, 2023. “Polyethylene glycol as a robust, biocompatible encapsulant for two-stage treatment of food and beverage wastewater.”

BRANDON SLOAN, Ph.D. (advised by Xue Feng) April 14, 2023, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. “Predictive and explanatory modeling of ecosystem response to soil water stress.”

VINICIUS J. TAGUCHI, Ph.D. (advised by John S. Gulliver and Jaques C. Finlay) May 4, 2023. “Understanding urban stormwater ponds as potential sources of phosphorus.”

JIAQI LI, Ph.D. (advised by William A. Arnold and Raymond M. Hozalski) Monday August 21, 2023. “NDMA Formation during chloramination: temporospatial distribution of NDMA precursors, the effect of lime softening treatment, and precursor identification via non-targeted analysis.”

GRANT GOEDJEN, Ph.D. (pictured outside the Civil Engineering Building, advised by Bill Arnold) August 25, 2023. “Neonicotinoid and Fipronil Insecticides in Minnesota: A Statewide Survey into the Occurrence, Detection, and Removal of Neonicotinoids and Fiproles in Minnesota Surface and Groundwater Systems.”

TE XU Ph.D. (advised by Michael Levin) September 6, 2023. “Boosting Max-pressure Signal Control into Practical Implementation: Methodologies and Simulation Studies in City Networks.”