Engineering graduate students recognized by campus award

Two Engineering at Illinois graduate students--Laura M. Fierce and Maren L. Somers--were among those honored last week for outstanding individual and group outreach efforts with the 2010 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement.

The award recognizes faculty members, academic professionals, and students who have consistently applied their knowledge and expertise to issues of societal importance for the public good.

Fierce, a graduate student in civil and environmental engineering, has been involved with Engineers Without Borders since her undergraduate days in mechanical engineering when she worked on several project teams. Her teammates soon recognized her leadership and conviction and elected her president.

Last year, Fierce was offered a position at a major U.S. engineering firm in a highly sought summer internship program. However, she declined the offer and instead worked on the EWB-Illinois Water Project Enugu, Nigeria. At the conclusion of the summer, she canceled her fall schedule so that she could continue working in Nigeria at a local college. During this time, she continued to oversee the water project through to its completion of the well-drilling stage, returning to the U.S. in November.

Likewise, Somers became involved in the Engineers Without Borders project through an energy project in Orissa, India. As a first-year graduate student in agricultural and biological engineering, she has become an immediate asset to the organization by coordinating the EWB-Illinois Water Project in Enugu, Nigeria. She has helped to direct the activities of many student volunteers. She has also worked for the organization in the area of fundraising.

Somers has an interest in using her engineering skills to address issues such as water, health and lighting. She also is interested in working on preventable diseases, specifically related to safe and adequate water.

Somers also has been a leader in exploring curricular routes for training students in sustainable engineering. She is involved in all of these activities while pursuing a rigorous curricular path: two majors, a minor and the environmental fellow program.

The campus awards reception, which took place Feb. 2 at the Beckman Institute, also honored Reginald J. Alston, a professor of kinesiology and community health; George F. Czapar, an educator with UI Extension; Rebecca Ginsburg, a professor of landscape architecture; and the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. The students each received $1,500 to be used for professional development or other educational activities.
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Writer: Anna K. Herkamp, assistant editor, Illinois News Bureau, 217/333-5491.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, 217/244-7716, editor.