UMD News: April 21, 2011

Communication Associate: Public Relations | Lori Melton | lmelton@d.umn.edu | (218) 726-8830

April 21, 2011
Cheryl Reitan, Director, UMD Public Relations and Marketing 218 726-8996 creitan@d.umn.edu
Andrea Schokker, Professor, UMD Civil Engineering 218 726-6446 aschokke@d.umn.edu

UMD Wins at American Concrete Institute International Conference

Daniel Abramson and Kyrstyn Haapala

Seven UMD Civil Engineering students attended the 2011 American Concrete Institute (ACI) international conference. Organized into two teams, the sophomores and juniors competed against 40 national and international university teams in the student "fiber reinforced polymer beam" category and won second place in strength, third place in prediction, and an overall "Outstanding University" title based on the service and professional activities of the student chapter. A large banner was presented to the students, and it will be displayed in the UMD engineering lab.

In addition, civil engineering sophomore, Kyrstyn Haapala, was honored with the Baker Fellowship—a $7,000 reward, a paid summer internship, and all expenses paid for the next two ACI conventions.

Civil engineering junior, Dan Abramson, received the Pankow Fellowship. This award is the highest dollar amount fellowship with a $10,000 reward plus a paid summer internship with all expenses paid for the next two ACI conventions. In the past, the Pankow Fellowship recipients have been current or beginning PhD students for the fellowship year. This is the first time that an undergraduate has been honored with the award.

Team members included Matt Fournier, Dan Abramson, Chelsea Hanson, Alison Carlson, Justin Baker, Andrew Venaas, and Kyle Berg. The faculty advisers were Eric Musselman and Eshan Dave.

ACI is the code writing body for the national Concrete Building Code and has over 14,000 members worldwide.

For more information, see www.d.umn.edu/civileng

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