DFI Educational Trust Awards Scholarship Funds to 43 Students Pursuing Careers in Deep Foundations

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The DFI Educational Trust awarded scholarships this spring to 43 exceptional students preparing for a career in the civil engineering and construction fields. More scholarships will be awarded in the fall, thanks to the generosity of many donors and fundraising event participants and sponsors.

Since 2006, the Trust has awarded $2.4 million in scholarships and grants to more than 600 individuals. The high rate at which scholarship applicants and awardees enter, stay and advance in the industry speaks volumes to the Trust’s positive impact.

At Large Scholarships were provided from the following DFI Educational Trust Scholarship funds:

  • Clyde N. Baker, Jr. Foundation Engineering Scholarship Fund (BAKER)
  • Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship Fund (BERKEL)
  • DFI Educational Trust General Scholarship Fund (GENERAL)
  • Francis Gularte Scholarship Fund (GULARTE)
  • Fred H. Kulhawy Memorial Scholarship Fund (KULHAWY)
  • John O’Malley Scholarship Fund (O’MALLEY)
  • Terracon Consultants Scholarship Fund (TERRACON)
  • Thomas Wysockey Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund (WYSOCKEY)

Following are the recent scholarship recipients:

  • Shamontee Aziz, Ph.D. student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, awarded a total of $3,000 from GENERAL

  • Austin Berger, junior, University of Central Florida, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Luciano Campos, graduate student, Virginia Tech, awarded a total of $2,000 from GENERAL

  • Xiaomin Chen, graduate student, Virginia Tech, awarded a total of $4,000 from GENERAL

  • Yelena Cherubin-Lambert, junior, Howard University, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Harvey Chu, senior, University of Hawaii at Manoa, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Suvechha Dhakal, graduate student, Southern Illinois University, awarded a total of $2,000 from GENERAL

  • Ali Doostvandi, Ph.D. student, Texas A&M University, awarded a total of $5,000 from WYSOCKEY

  • Melinda Eason, Ph.D. student, Villanova University, awarded a total of $2,500 from GULARTE

  • Emily Fasig, sophomore, University of Delaware, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Abdulsalam Kalonji, senior, Howard University, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Tyler Kleinsasser, graduate student, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, awarded a total of $5,000 from BAKER

  • Jordan Launstein, junior, Iowa State University, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Lucas Liberatore, sophomore, Virginia Military Institute, awarded a total of $5,000 from WYSOCKEY

  • Amber Lyons, graduate student, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, awarded a total of $5,000 from WYSOCKEY

  • Faith Macchione, junior, Stevens Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Kiarash Jafarzadeh Marandi, Ph.D. student, University of Louisville, awarded a total of $2,000 from GENERAL

  • Kiley McNeill, junior, Rochester Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $3,000 from BERKEL

  • Guadalupe Mendoza, senior, Texas Tech University, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Angela Mink, Ph.D. student, University of Colorado Boulder, awarded a total of $1,000 from KULHAWY and a total of $1,000 from GENERAL

  • Sydane Morrison, graduate student, Lehigh University, awarded a total of $2,500 from GULARTE

  • Cannon Moser, junior, University of Toledo, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Fereydoun Najafian Jazi, Ph.D. student, University of Louisville, awarded a total of $5,000 from O’MALLEY

  • Michael Odelola, Ph.D. student, Florida International University, awarded a total of $5,000 from O’MALLEY

  • Edgar Ortega, Ph.D. student, University of Arkansas, awarded a total of $3,000 from TERRACON

  • Graham Richard, sophomore, Kent State University, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Rupsa Roy, Ph.D. student, Iowa State University, awarded a total of $4,000 from GENERAL

  • Nicklas Schmidt-Bailey, senior, Seattle University, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL

  • Jenna Stein, graduate student, University of Colorado Boulder, awarded a total of $3,000 from GENERAL

  • Sean Waters, junior, Illinois Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $3,000 from BERKEL

  • Yonacary Wingard, senior, Florida International University, awarded a total of $5,000 from BERKEL

  • Keyur Vanani, graduate student, Stevens Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $2,000 from GENERAL

  • Juan Zamora, Ph.D. student, Drexel University, awarded a total of $2,000 from GENERAL

Additional Scholarships
In addition to At Large scholarships, 10 students received awards from school-specific scholarship funds.

Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship ($5,000)

  • Camila Marden, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Langan Legacy Dennis J. Leary Memorial Scholarship ($6,250)

  • Aaron Perez Araya, senior, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Larry P. Rayburn University of Cincinnati Civil Engineering Scholarship ($2,500 each)

  • Pierson Kovick, first-year student
  • Colin Mansell, first-year student
  • Noah Recker, first-year student
  • Austin Reynolds, first-year student

Menard Carnegie Mellon University Scholarship ($5,000 each)

  • Gibrilla Kamara, senior
  • Carlyle Najarian, junior

Michael L. Condon Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund ($4,000 each)

  • Sepehr Akhtarshenas, Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech
  • Zachary Clark, senior, Montana Tech
  • Jason Frame, senior, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

Goble Rausche Likins Scholarship Fund ($5,000 each)

  • Tyler Fogarty, junior, Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Matthew Slater, junior, University of Toledo

To donate to these and other scholarship funds, visit trust.dfi.org.

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