Two students that Iuri Santos advises as a civil engineering professor at Slippery Rock University earned scholarships at the American Society of Civil Engineers Awards dinner in February, with one of them earning the top award the Pittsburgh chapter offers.

Amber Maurer, a junior civil engineering major at SRU, and Amina Tandukar, a sophomore civil engineering major at SRU, earned awards; with Maurer earning the American Bridge Leadership Award, the most prestigious available, Santos said.

According to Santos, the students achieved these recognitions because of their dedication to developing their engineering knowledge at the university.

“On top of that, Amber and Amina have a lot of involvement on campus,” Santos said. “Amber and Amina participate in research with professors; they presented at a conference.”

Each of the students’ awards comes with a scholarship that can be applied to their education, Maurer said.

Maurer said she was surprised to earn such a prestigious award as a junior, but learned at the awards dinner that her application set her apart in a few ways.

“I did do the application, and I didn’t expect to get the biggest award,” Maurer said. “I was talking to a few of the people on the awards foundation and one of the things they said set me apart was that I went to (Butler County Community College) and then transferred to SRU.

“The fact that I mailed in my application … they said I was the only one who did that.”

Civil engineering classes at SRU are focused on three areas of the field — structural, environmental and transportation engineering — according to the university’s website. Students are trained in engineering design, problem-solving, decision-making, leadership, and verbal and written communication skills. A capstone design course in the senior year integrates all aspects of learning through team-based design projects assisted by professional engineers in the field.

Santos said his classes give students, who are normally in their later years in the program, hands-on work in the field, which has them visualize and compile data needed for a project. Maurer has already taken some of his classes, he said.

“Surveying class, I have them going out almost every week, they create their own maps — it’s very, very hands-on,” Santos said. “They learn by doing along with the theoretical knowledge. Students get a chance to apply real engineering to academic studies as well.”

Tandukar said she has been doing research with Santos and Maurer, and even presented in surveying and sustainable solutions competitions at a conference at Penn State a few weeks ago.

“With Dr. Santos, we’re working on studying drainage of acid sludge and water to better understand how that works with water and how we can extract rare earth elements from the sludge,” Tandukar said. “Amber and I worked on concrete research … How different fibers improve the compressive stress of concrete.”

It was Santos who recommended that Maurer and Tandukar apply for the American Society of Civil Engineers Awards.

“Based on what Amber has been doing here on campus, she has good grades and good participation, she is a leader,” Santos said. “(Amina) wanted to do an extra mathematics class, so I worked with her to take an extra one of those.”

Maurer said she went to BC3 to get her general education classes done and transferred to Slippery Rock to immediately enroll in its civil engineering program. Maurer said the process of building that civil engineers work through is what appeals to her about this division of engineering.

“I like civil because I was able to get most hands-on, and everything you work with is visual, physical. It’s on a macroscopic scale,” Maurer said. “That’s the aspect I like, you can see it being built.”

Maurer also said she thinks she has wanted to be an engineer of some type since she was young, when children’s toys were the only building materials available to her.

“Looking back, it definitely makes sense. I was always making block towers in sections and my dad would put it together. That was one of my favorite activities as a child,” Maurer said.

For Tandukar, civil engineering provides a way to work on projects relating to environmental infrastructure, which she said has always been one of her career goals.

“I think I have always wanted to make an impact on the world, especially when it comes to helping the environment and helping people who are disadvantaged,” she said.

The Pittsburgh chapter of American Society of Civil Engineers recognizes projects, people and employers for their achievements and contributions to the section and the civil engineering practice, according to the society’s website. These awards are given annually during Engineers Week to celebrate and raise public awareness about civil engineering and the contributions that civil engineers make to society.

Santos said being part of the society and attending its meetings is a benefit to staff and students in engineering programs. He said he attended the society’s Mid-Atlantic East & West Student Symposium, along with Maurer and Tandukar at the end of March, where students also participated in challenges against other colleges and universities.

The symposium provides another outlet for students to exercise skills relating to civil engineering.

“We all got together at Penn State for a four-day symposium in which the students get to compete in competitions involving civil engineering knowledge,” Santos said. “They had more than 500 students participating in surveying competition and solutions competitions.”

In addition to school-related work, Maurer interned with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation last summer, and has plans to intern with Civil & Environmental Consultants this summer.

“I got to be on the construction site with PennDOT,” Maurer said. “I'm going to CEC, where I'll be a geotechnical intern. I see the tests of soils and see the survey maps.”

Tandukar said she did an internship in Nepal last summer, and plans to stay involved with the society because of its educational and networking opportunities.

“It’s also very inspiring to see engineers work on such big projects. It’s also a good networking opportunity,” Tandukar said. “So I definitely want to be involved.”

Santos said he has attended the awards dinner every time it has taken place since he started working at SRU in 2022. He said the university has supported the engineering programs at the school and the students involved in them.

“I’m very proud of the work we are doing here, and it’s nice that we have the support of the university,” Santos said.