September 18, 2020
CEADA scholarship winners Ross Buehre (top), Jake McFail (bottom left) and Shelby Hanes
The MU Civil Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni (CEADA) held its annual meeting on Sept. 11. This organization is very active in its support of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). The event was held virtually this year for the safety and health of participants.
CEE Department Chair Praveen Edara began the meeting with a department update for the attendees. He mentioned the recent hire of Dr. Oliver Giraldo from Georgia Tech who starts Nov. 1. Edara described other department highlights, including having two past Kemper Fellowship award winners within CEE, the challenges and opportunities that have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic, and multiple research grants recently awarded to CEE faculty.
Edara also touched on the opening of the Missouri Center for Transportation Innovation. The Center is a UM System collaboration with the Missouri Department of Transportation and resides within the MU College of Engineering.
In addition to Edara’s update, Dr. Sarah Orton, director of undergraduate studies, and four CEE student organizations presented during the virtual meeting. The American Society of Civil Engineers, the Mizzou Steel Bridge Team, MizzouITE and the Mizzou Concrete Canoe Team each gave an update on their organizations’ activities during the previous year. The MizzouITE student chapter won the 2020 Best Student Team Award from the Midwestern Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) district. The district comprises 11 states.
In the business portion of the meeting, James E. Smith was installed as president. He was inducted into CEADA in 2014. Smith is a retired employee of the Missouri Department of Transportation and still consults with them on selected projects.
Scholarship Winners
The CEADA scholarship committee reported their scholarship selections for this year. The recipients were Ross Buehre, Shelby Hanes and Jake McFail.
Buehre a Lee’s Summit, Missouri native, transferred from Metropolitan Community College (Longview Campus) before the start of the 2019-20 academic year. He transferred to MU because of its “great reputation as an engineering school.” Buehre eventually wants to work under a Professional Engineer (P.E.) and obtain his P.E. license.
Hanes is from Ballwin, Missouri and transferred to Mizzou from The Ohio State University. After transferring, she improved scholastically due to the smaller class sizes and hands-on experiences available at MU. Hanes plans to pursue a career in construction after graduation.
McFail, originally from Sedalia, Missouri, transferred from Missouri S&T. He transferred to be able to focus on his education, be closer to home and attend the same university as his siblings. After graduation, McFail wants to gain experience as an engineer and make a lasting impact within his community.