Armour Engineering Student Receives Prestigious ASCE Award, Illinois Tech Students Awarded 3 of 4 Statewide ASCE Undergrad Scholarships

Three undergraduate students from Armour College of Engineering’s Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering were recently recognized for their outstanding academic achievements and professional pursuits by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Zachary Haney (ARCE/M.E. STE 4th Year), an Illinois Tech Camras Scholar, has been selected by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Society Awards Committee as a recipient of its prestigious 2019 Lawrence W. and Francis W. Cox Scholarship, which is presented annually to further the education of one undergraduate civil engineering student based on academic success, including ASCE student chapter involvement. Out of more than 20 undergraduate scholarships, this is the most distinguished and generous contribution that the national organization of the American Society of Civil Engineers distributes each academic year. 

After earning college credit through advanced placement courses in high school, Haney was able to shave a year off of his undergraduate studies. He will graduate in spring 2021 with both a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering and a Master of Engineering in Structural Engineering.

“After receiving the Camras Scholarship, I am grateful to be at a school that rewarded me for my leadership abilities.” He adds, “I currently work at Thornton Tomasetti, in the department that specializes in high-rise structural design projects. I’m very excited to be working on a few skyscrapers going up in Chicago, which has been my dream since I began my career. I cannot thank Illinois Tech enough for supporting me in my professional career, especially for the resources the CAEE department has offered me."

Haney was nominated by Brent Stephens—associate professor and director of architectural engineering, director of environmental engineering, and CAEE department chair—along with Ivan Mutis, ASCE faculty adviser and assistant professor of civil and architectural engineering. 

“Zachary has shown himself to be a mature and effective leader and has committed a tremendous amount of time and energy to ASCE, including currently serving as the ASCE-Illinois Tech chapter president. Among his many responsibilities in this role, he has successfully led organization and recruitment efforts for our departmental student-run career fair, recruiting over 20 companies to attend,” says Stephens.

In addition to serving as the president of the ASCE-Illinois Tech student chapter, Haney is on track to increase his student chapters' annual national score by more than 50 percent compared to 2018. Last year, he raised more than $12,000 for the chapter in his term as fundraising chair.

Illinois Tech students received three of four Illinois ASCE undergrad scholarships this year. In addition to Haney, two Illinois Tech students were awarded technical group scholarships by the Illinois Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

Audrey Van Linn (CE 3rd Year) received the Geo-Institute Scholarship award, which recognizes her contributions and commitment to professional development as a geotechnical engineer. Van Linn says, “This scholarship has helped me immensely. With it, I was able to take out one less federal loan for this school year—the loan that accrues interest even while I’m in school.”

Daniel Rappoport (CE 3rd Year) received the Bob Camillone Memorial Scholarship, awarded by the Transportation and Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers to high-performing students seeking to become civil engineers and dedicated to advancing the field.

Rappoport notes the importance of scholarship assistance for student success post-graduation. He adds, “I am confident that I will get a good job out of college to start paying them off, but the scholarships I have been awarded by the professional organizations I participate in will hopefully improve my quality of life in the first years after I graduate while I learn how to be a financially independent adult.”