- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock professor elected to American Society on Civil Engineers committee

Janea Snyder — Wed, 22 May 2019 15:52:19 +0000

Dr. Nickolas Jovanovic, professor and coordinator of Architectural, Civil, and Construction Engineering programs at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, has been elected to a four-year term on the American Society of Civil Engineers Committee on Accreditation Operations. Twelve people serve on the national committee with three new members elected each year. The committee manages the society’s participation in implementing the ABET accreditation of architectural, civil, and construction engineering programs and architectural engineering, civil engineering, and construction engineering technology programs. It also develops and implements policies and procedures for the recruitment, training, and evaluation of program evaluators for the ABET accreditation review of programs. Committee members establish and maintain qualifications for engineering and engineering technology program evaluators and identify, recruit, and nominate candidates to fill seats on the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission, the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission, and the Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission.

Graduating student finds passion for construction management at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 14:51:58 +0000

After spending 14 years working in retail, Heather Hightower saw her move to Arkansas to be closer to her wife’s family as an opportunity to go back to school and start a new career. “I wanted to get out of retail, and my dad had gone back to school late in life. He said, ‘If you want to do it, I know you can,’” Hightower said. “He was a disabled veteran and had to start with remedial math at a community college at age 36. He was a civil engineer and pushed me toward engineering, but I was more fascinated by construction.” Hightower, a native of Florida, considered herself an “East coast girl” and wasn’t sure she would fit in in Arkansas. Now, she will graduate Dec. 16 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a Master of Science in Construction Management, already employed as a full-time associate estimator at Platinum Drywall, Inc. in Little Rock. “The first day that I came to get books, I remember getting the ‘How to Read Drawing’ and ‘How to Read Welding Symbols’ books,” she said. “I questioned myself. The books were very thick and looked formidable. I was also older than everyone else in the class, but (Department Chair) Mike Tramel was very supportive and took me under his wing. The whole construction management department was very helpful.” Hightower found herself blossoming as a major in the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering. While earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Management at the University of South Florida, Hightower worked 50 hours a week. This time around, she “got to enjoy being a college student.” She became a teaching assistant and student ambassador for the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology and president of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Hightower recently won third place in the national Daniel W. Mead Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers for her ethics paper exploring whether engineering faculty should teach if they have not obtained a professional license. In April, Hightower won first place for the best professional paper and oral presentation at the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Student Conference. Professor Tramel in the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering described Hightower as an excellent writer and one of the most intelligent and dependable students in the department. “Heather is a natural leader and earns the respect of her peers with her work ethic, integrity, maturity, and courtesy,” Tramel said. “She has demonstrated excellent organization skills and has been instrumental in the success of several student activities.” Hightower found her job at Platinum Drywall, thanks to a helpful professor and some practical classroom experience. “I got that position through Professor Chris Rey,” she said. “Chris recommended me because I had won Estimating Bid Day. In lieu of a final exam, we have a bid day where you act as the general contractor and determine the overall best bid.” For her master’s thesis, Hightower explored the relationship between lack of skilled labor in the construction industry and vocational education. She found that the drop in vocational education programs is linked to the lack of skilled labor in the construction industry. “As of 2020, there will be 5.5 million workers aging out of the construction industry, and there are not enough skilled workers to fill their spots,” Hightower said. “My recommendation is that even if the government doesn’t invest in vocational education that colleges need to get together with the industry leaders and companies and make a program to invest in these students that will become the leaders of the construction industry.” After she graduates, Hightower will focus on finishing the Master of Science in Operations Management and graduate certificate in project management that she is completing through an online program at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She is also discussing the possibility of becoming an adjunct instructor for the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering and eventually plans to earn her doctorate. “One thing I learned in retail and by coming here is that it’s better to go with the flow instead of sticking to a set plan,” she said. “I’ll be successful wherever I go.”

Hightower places third in national competition for engineering students

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 14:38:20 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student has won a national award for an ethics paper exploring whether engineering faculty should teach if they have not obtained a professional license. Heather Hightower, a graduate student in construction management and operations management, received third place in the Daniel W. Mead Prize for Students from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Daniel Mead, a former president of the society, endowed the Mead Prize for Students in 1939. “I am very honored and surprised to receive third place in the National Daniel Mead Contest,” Hightower said. “This national recognition was completely unexpected. I feel very grateful to my ASCE chapter members and the department’s faculty for all their support.” Hightower won the award for writing a paper answering the question: “Is it ethical for university engineering faculty to teach technical subject matter to engineering students without obtaining professional licensure?” “I took the position that as long as an instructor or professor demonstrated sufficient knowledge in an area, he or she should be able to teach the subject with or without a professional licensure,” she said. In April, Hightower, who is president of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, also won first place and a $200 prize for the best professional paper and oral presentation at the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Student Conference for her paper. Michael Tramel, chair of the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering, was not surprised to learn Hightower had won the award, describing her as an excellent writer and one of the most intelligent and dependable students in the department. “Heather is a natural leader and earns the respect of her peers with her work ethic, integrity, maturity, and courtesy,” Tramel said. “She has demonstrated excellent organization skills and has been instrumental in the success of several student activities.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student hopes to be Construction Intern of the Year

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:35:00 +0000

has always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps to become an engineer. “When I was young, growing up in my native Poland, he often took me to his job sites, which became my oversize playgrounds,” Osieczko said. “For years, I watched him in his work and came to love and sometimes understand what he did. I fell in love with the same profession.” Now she is hoping for a little help fulfilling that dream by competing in the Construction Intern Awards, where $50,000 in scholarship money is up for grabs. “All of my family is Europe, so I need my family at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to help me get votes,” she said. Osieczko needs your votes to move to the next round of the, which is offering a top scholarship of $10,000. You can once every 24 hours until 4 p.m. Oct. 3. The eight candidates who receive the most online votes will become semifinalists along with nine candidates selected by a committee. The scholarship program is designed to recognize the strongest construction interns in the industry and the companies with the best construction internship programs in the country. After moving to America with her husband, Thomas, and daughter, Noemi, Osieczko spent five years living in Alaska before the family made the move to Arkansas in 2007. As her daughter grew older, Osieczko realized it was the right time to go back to school. “I was thinking that if I don’t go back to school now, I will never go back,” she said. “I always wanted to be educated, but I never had the chance.” After joining ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2015, Osieczko is now treasurer of the ��Vlog��ý Little student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and will serve as the bridge team captain at this year’s competition. She is also a member of the Society of Women Engineers. As a student, Osieczko will complete more than 800 hours of internship experience before graduating. For Osieczko, that meant finding the right company. “I decided to seek one in a company known for the kind of projects I hope to work on in my professional life,” she said. “I was fortunate enough to be offered an internship by Austin Bridge and Road of Irving, Texas.” At Austin Bridge and Road, Osieczko learned how to use computer programs, like AutoCad, AutoMath, and BeanPro, to manage concrete calculations and engineering designs. “Maybe the most important thing that I have taken away from my internship is consciousness of the need for keeping safety in mind at every stage of a project,” she said. “Every detail that can be calculated should be in the interest of immediate safety and long-term quality, which results in safety for all who work on and finally use the structure.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student takes first place in engineering competition

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 13:29:39 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student won first place for the best professional paper and oral presentation at the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Student Conference. Heather Hightower, a construction management graduate student from Benton and the president of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, also received a $200 cash prize for her 2,000-word paper and presentation on the topic: “Is it ethical for university engineering faculty to teach technical subject matter to engineering students without obtaining professional licensure?” Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State universities took second and third place in the professional paper and oral presentation competition. Students from the university’s chapter of the , coached by Faculty Adviser Nick Jovanovic, battled against 14 college teams from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the society’s competition on March 31 and April 1 in Memphis. More than 20 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students competed in six events: concrete canoe, steel bridge, surveying, environmental, ethics paper, and a mystery event. “The student chapter sent 22 students to the conference, which is a new attendance record for the chapter,” Jovanovic said. “The student chapter also made history by taking a concrete canoe for the first time. This was also the first year that the student chapter was able to participate in all six events at the Deep South Conference. Thus, given that ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is the newest ASCE student chapter in the conference, this is a fantastic result.” In the concrete canoe competition, students tested their engineering skills by creating a canoe out of concrete materials that floats in water. In Memphis, the students took their canoes to the water to take part in a racing competition.

Heather Hightower

Concrete canoe team members include Team Captain Blake Johnston, Assistant Captain Sam Kincannon, Manville Allen, Amanda Hall, Harrison Hayworth, Hunter Hobby, Palmer Lane, Magen Schlesier, Logan Snapp, and Jorge Vasquez. Steel Bridge Team members include Team Captain Casey Baker, Assistant Captain Jonathan Henderson, Nicole Compton, David Greenwood, Dee Osieczko, and Jonny Picking. Surveying Team members included Team Captain William Beggs, Natasha Carlson, and Jose Garcia. Kassandra Castrillo competed in the environmental competition while Vianca Martin was the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock competition coordinator during the 2016-17 academic year. Sponsors that provided financial and material support for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock American Society of Civil Engineers include: ABC Block, AFCO Steel, American Institute of Steel Constructors, Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, Arkansas Chapter of American Concrete Institute, Arkansas Section of American Society of Civil Engineers, BASF, Bentley Software, C&F Steel Erectors, George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering, and Ryerson Steel. In the upper right photo, University of Arkansas at Little Rock students display a concrete canoe built for the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Student Conference. Team members (L-R) include Logan Snapp, Manville Allen, Harrison Hayworth, and Hunter Hobby. Photo by Joe Kline Jr./��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

Engineering students to display skills in concrete canoes, steel bridges

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 16:24:37 +0000

Engineering and construction management students from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock showed off their skills Thursday, March 30, before they departed for an engineering competition in Memphis. Students from the university’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers were set to face off against 14 college teams from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the society’s competition Friday, March 31, and Saturday, April 1, in Memphis. They will compete in six events: concrete canoe, steel bridge, surveying, environmental, ethics paper, and mystery event. The demonstration and talk took place from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. March 30 in the Engineering and Information Technology Building Auditorium. The students displayed a concrete canoe that will be used in a racing competition, and they erected a steel bridge in less than 30 minutes. Participating students included Heather Hightower, Magen Schlesier, Vianca Martin, Blake Johnston, Sam Kincannon, Casey Baker, and Jonathan Henderson.

��Vlog��ýLR student wins team competition in national engineering program

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 14:00:02 +0000

As a 14-year-old working at his grandfather’s engineering company in Arkansas, Grant Lewis thought he would one day carry on the family legacy by becoming an engineer like his father and grandfather. Lewis’ life took a different turn when he enlisted in the U.S. Army following his graduation from Bryant High School in 2005. He now serves as the air ambulance non-commissioned officer for Detachment 2 Company D 1-114th Aviation Medical Evacuation Regiment. Lewis also is the acting first sergeant at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Having never lost his love of learning, Lewis took college classes part time for seven years, through two deployments to Iraq. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business finance in 2014 from the University of Maryland University College. During his career, Lewis earned numerous certifications as an emergency medical technician, flight paramedic, and trauma life support provider. With his 30th birthday fast approaching, Lewis is thinking about the future. With plans to retire from the Army after 20 years of service, Lewis wants to devote the next chapter of his life to becoming the engineer he always wanted to be. “My dad’s company, Phillip Lewis Engineering, Inc. is taking off, so I finally decided that my passion is in engineering, and that is what I really want to do,” Lewis said. “My retirement is within 10 years, so I figure I will get my degree, and then I can pursue engineering full time when I finish.” In January, Lewis enrolled as a part-time student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, majoring in civil and construction engineering. After only one semester, Lewis was selected as one of 36 students to attend a national summer program designed to bring the top engineering students in the country to potential employers looking for new talent. Lewis attended the Construction Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers annual event July 29 to Aug. 2 in Boston. During the event, he attended several networking events with industry professionals, toured a construction site, and won two team competition events.

Grant Lewis at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ýLR Communications.

He was a member of the six-person team that won the Construction Institute Civil Engineering Team Challenge. During the competition, participants created a bid package for a real-world construction job — a pedestrian bridge renovation — and presented a proposal to construction professionals. Lewis and his teammates each received a $500 award for winning the competition. “I thought it was a huge honor,” Lewis said. “I didn’t expect to get accepted. They only normally invite juniors and seniors, and I am just a freshman. Getting to network with professionals from the industry all over the country was invaluable. And to be able to win the team competition was very neat. It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Student Days gives high-achieving engineering students the information they need to stand out in a competitive job market, while providing engineering recruiters with unique opportunities to meet top talent. Lewis’ networking has been very productive. “I’ve already been in contact with several industry leaders who want to keep in touch with me as I finish my degree and become a future leader in the industry,” Lewis said. “The vice president of a company has already contacted me about a possible internship. I think it has been very valuable to get to network with people I wouldn’t normally get to.”

��Vlog��ýLR students win mystery challenge at civil engineering conference

Taylor Aldana — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 20:02:41 +0000

A team of ��Vlog��ýLR civil and construction engineering students won the mystery challenge competition at the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Student Conference March 10-12 at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Norbert Rungano, Chloe Jerry, Heather Hightower, and Ross Phillips were designated for the mystery challenge without prior knowledge of what would be expected of them. This year’s event required each team to design and erect a tower made from unconventional structural materials: uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows. “When our event time initially started, we were all working separately,” said Hightower. “It was when we started working on one piece together that we got a stable piece going.” The ��Vlog��ýLR team built the tallest tower, beating teams from schools such as Louisiana State University, Ole Miss, and Arkansas State University. “This event taught me that though individual ideas can lead to the ultimate goal, communication and teamwork are what is needed to accomplish a goal,” said Hightower. Other students who attended the conference include Cerise Ingani, Julian Castillo, Marie Fidele Kabera, Matt Mitchell, Tim Yu, Abdulaziz Alanazi, and Justice Wagnon. Travel expenses for the ��Vlog��ýLR team were provided by a generous donation of $5,000 from the Arkansas section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The American Society of Civil Engineers sponsors 18 regional conferences across North America. The Deep South Student Conference includes 14 civil engineering programs in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock professor elected to American Society on Civil Engineers committee

Graduating student finds passion for construction management at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

Hightower places third in national competition for engineering students

����Vlog��ý Little Rock student hopes to be Construction Intern of the Year

����Vlog��ý Little Rock student takes first place in engineering competition