Engineering Quarterly VOL.VI. . . No.3
SPRING 2024
W ELCOME ! The Engineering Quarterly was inaugurated in the Fall of 2018 and is published four times each year. In each issue, we try to include articles from each of the engineering majors that we offer: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Construction Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Construction Management. In this issue of the EQ we congratulate our outstanding seniors and our outstanding student award winners, we present our annual Emerging Engineers design competition, and we acknowledge a generous gift we have received from the Bobcat Company. Most importantly, we showcase our graduating class of 2024. It is a joyous occasion for us to see our seniors graduate after spending four years teaching them, mentoring them, getting to know them, and becoming friends with them. It is exciting to see how much they have changed in that time and to see them embark on amazing careers. I speak for all of the faculty when I say how proud we are of these hardworking and talented men and women. Enjoy! Dr. Terry Pilling
and highly motivated to learn something new. Maya possess high levels of moral and ethical standards, self-confidence, technological skills, and is always motivated to take up new challenges. With full confidence in her abilities. Maya has completed internships at NISC in Mandan and plans to begin her career there upon graduation. We wish Maya all the best in her future endeavors and we hope to see her return each year to visit us during our annual alumni events!
We have had the pleasure of knowing Mikayla since Fall of 2020 when she began her career at UMary and through the years we have seen her grow into a compeMikayla Brackin tent engineer and a great person. Mikayla has stood out in many ways during her time at UMary. First, she is a good student academically. She is a great student in the classroom as well, as she is very active in discussion and asks good and relevant questions. Beyond her academic standing, Mikayla is a model UMary student who will continue to exude the moral compass instilled in her by her UMary education. As a student, Mikayla stands out in many positive ways. As Mikayla was a sophomore, O UTSTANDING S ENIORS a “reverse classroom” approach to professor Waldenmaier’s GLG 203 Earth Dynamics The Hamm School of Engineering had three and Geophysics course was taken, wherein nominees for the University of Mary’s Out- students study the material and then present it standing Senior Award. This year our nomi- to the rest of the class. Mikayla volunteered to be the first session for this class, which nees were meant that she had a limited time to learn Maya has shown the material and prepare a presentation. Prof. excellent in- Waldenmaier was very impressed at her initiaterest in her tive! “This go-getter attitude has been shown scholastic pur- in her other classes as well. I have seen it suits has been come up in ECI 313 General Surveying with one of the top Lab as a leader in her group and in ECI 301 students in all Civil Materials Lab where she is active in maof her courses. terial preparation and testing. I often see her Maya is an ex- leading her groups in other courses as well, in cellent Com- particular during group projects presentations puter Scientist and lab work.” In other courses, she is one Maya Wald and is always of the more active students in terms of class attentive in class. She is receptive to new room interaction, allowing her peers to learn ideas, dedicated to her assignments. When even more during each class. She continually asked to present her solutions in class, she demonstrates her eagerness to learn and grow stands in front of the class with confidence, into a good engineer. Mikayla is a person clear steps, and with joy. In her research, of strong moral character, as shown in her she was always timely, prompt and talented. community involvement and school activities. Maya overcame all research challenges and Mikayla is the captain of the UMary Swimdifficulties with creativity and steadfastness ming and Diving team (Junior and Senior and a smile on her face. Maya always car- year captain) and competes in three events; ries a contagious positive energy around her freestyle, breaststroke, and the individual and her peers. All of her professors agree medley. In addition, she is a swim coach that Maya is a person with extremely high for Century High School and a coach for the comprehending and analyzing capabilities, developmental swimmers of the Bismarck
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club team, Aquastorm. She participates in multiple bible study groups and is a volunteer at Corpus Christi Church. She is also a volunteer for a variety of UMary athletics and Student Athlete Advisory Committee events, including Chuck-a-Puck at hockey games, serving concessions at basketball games, and selling raffle tickets at football games. She also assists with a variety of charity activities on campus, like food drives, Backpacks for Kids, and mental health awareness events. We could not be any more proud to be a part of Mikayla’s education and growth as an engineer. She is an upstanding student, standout student athlete, and a young woman who cares about her community. Kolbe has stood out in many ways during his time at UMary. First, he is an excellent student academically. He is a great student in the classroom as well, as he is very active in Kolbe Raiche discussion and asks good and relevant questions. Beyond his academic standing, Kolbe is a model UMary student who will continue to exude the moral compass instilled in him by his UMary education. Kolbe has been an active member of the Knights of Columbus UMary chapter, participating in many service activities over the years. He has participated in the Day of Service for all 4 years of his college career. He is also an active member in intramurals at UMary, most notably through volleyball. In addition to his activities within UMary, Kolbe has also built community mountain bike trails in his hometown in Michigan. Lastly, Kolbe is the founder and primary operator of Deck Dudes, a deck construction business based out of Bismarck. His future plans involve expanding his deck business towards modular home builds. He states, “Over the next winter, the plan is to continue to collaborate with a small network of investors, builders, and engineers to bring modular home construction to Bismarck, North Dakota. With the rising cost of homes, the goal is to produce a house that is affordable, appreciates over time, and quick to build.”
O UTSTANDING S TUDENT AWARDS
Every year the faculty of the Hamm School of Engineering selects students from each of our majors to receive the Outstanding Student Awards for that year. The awards can go to students of any year in the program and are given based on both GPA as well as other personal qualities that make these students great students and excellent servant