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UT Tyler ASCE Student Chapter Continues Tradition in Excellence

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October 2, 2013

Media Contact:  Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

October 2, 2013

The University of Texas at Tyler American Society of Civil Engineers Student Chapter has again been recognized for excellence by the ASCE, Dr. James Nelson, College of Engineering and Computer Science dean, announced.

At the 2013 ASCE Texas Section Honors Luncheon, UT Tyler received the ASCE Region 6 Outstanding Student Chapter Award for the sixth consecutive year. This honor has been awarded to university’s chapter every year since its inception in 2008. Region 6 comprises of 22 student chapters in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

The UT Tyler chapter was also recognized again as an ASCE Robert Ridgway Student Chapter Award finalist and received the ASCE Texas Section Award of Merit, which is the highest honor that the Texas Section can bestow on a student chapter. The Texas Section is one of the largest in ASCE with nearly 10,000 members.

“It is exciting to see our students recognized for their hard work and to be so honored for six years of success,” said Dr. J. Torey Nalbone, UT Tyler Department of Civil Engineering chair.

Honors are based on activities recorded in the chapter’s 2012 Annual Report. The student chapter participates in a variety of activities, from community service projects and professional meetings to social events.

“In my 15 years working for the Texas Section, I have not seen another student chapter receive these awards so consistently. This is quite an achievement,” said Elizabeth Greenwood, ASCE Texas Section secretary and operations manager.

Dr. Michael McGinnis, UT Tyler ASCE student chapter adviser, was also recognized with the 2013 ASCE Region 6 Certificate of Commendation.

“Dr. McGinnis is quite deserving of the ASCE recognition,” Nalbone added. “He really connects with the ASCE chapter students and gets them to work effectively and as a result, accomplish their best work.”

Among recent accomplishments, the UT Tyler ASCE student chapter repeated their win in ASCE Texas-Mexico Regional Concrete Canoe Competition with their 2013 entry, “Chip Shot,” eventually going on to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to compete at nationals against the top teams from across the United States and Canada.

At the annual event, the participants’ canoes constructed of concrete are judged in four categories: technical design report, oral design presentation, canoe final product and racing.

“Our students work really hard. Their efforts really help to build a strong sense of community in the civil engineering program,” McGinnis said. “It seems to me that students, faculty and practicing engineers all really enjoy being a part of what is happening here at UT Tyler.”

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 140,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. Its mission is to provide essential value to members and partners, advance civil engineering and serve the public good.

For more information, visit www.asce.org.

For more information about the UT Tyler ASCE student chapter, contact McGinnis, 903.565.5870 or mmcginnis@uttyler.edu.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 7,500 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.