Spring ’22 Undergrad Spotlights

ASCE WINS: Carolinas Symposium

More than 120 civil and environmental engineering students competed in the 2022 Carolinas Symposium held at the University of South Carolina in April this year. Competitions included the concrete canoe, surveying, and innovation contests. UNC Charlotte students did outstanding, ranking first place overall. In June, our surveying and innovation teams will advance to the next round of competition at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA. UNC Charlotte will host the Carolinas Symposium in 2024. If you would like to be a sponsor, please email cee.dept@uncc.edu. Being the campus host of this event is a great honor but it can also financially challenging. Every sponsorship helps. Thanks, in advance. Here are the 2022 competitors:

  • Clemson University
  • The Citadel
  • North Carolina State University
  • Horry Georgetown Technical College
  • North Carolina A&T University
  • University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  • University of South Carolina

Pictured here are all the students who participated in the Carolinas Symposium along with their faculty advisor, Dr. Erika Weber. Just look at all those happy faces, and all those awards. Way to go! Here are the standings:

  • Sustainability: 1st Place (only school competing)
  • Innovation: 1st Place (A&T dropped out so only school)
  • Surveying: 2nd Place
  • Mead Paper: 1st Place
  • Environmental: 2nd Place
  • Transportation: 1st Place
  • Quizbowl: 1st Place
  • Overall: 1st Place

Below are three ASCE student member spotlights.

CARLOS Alonso: In Charge of His Engineering Future

In 2021, Carlos Alonso received both his high school diploma and an Associates in Engineering. He was enrolled in the Central Piedmont Community College’s Middle College High School program offered through their Cato campus (one of several locations in the Charlotte metro area). As a high school junior, he became focused on becoming an engineer and getting an internship. He held down a part-time job at Food Lion and excelled in his studies, earning a slot in the National Honor Society.

Early college revealed one this to Carlos: he liked designing things. One design project stands out. “I had a mechanism where every time a ball was kicked into the back of the net, a light sensor would turn on.” This indicated that a goal was scored. He found the project challenging, but loads of fun.

Like many Fall 2021 CEE students, Carlos’s first college classes were virtual. Soon, he was eager to get involved more with a hands-on challenge. He joined the ASCE student chapter and became a member of the concrete canoe design team. Later he finally achieved his goal of landing an engineering internship with airport design firm Talbert, Bright, and Ellington. “I have learned some new things about how aviation along the way, and I hope to learn more and see if this is something I want to do for my future career.”

Carlos feels confident that the challenging coursework and opportunities for internships and clubs involvement will help him succeed in engineering. He’s learned that it’s very important to “respect your profession and always be proud of what you have done.” Great job, Carlos!

Quentin Teta’s Senior Spotlight: Leaving a Chapter Legacy

CEE Senior Quentin Teta spent some of his early childhood in Ukraine. Several years ago, he and his family returned to the Charlotte area, where Quentin was born. Quentin’s story is very typical of many of our students in the College of Engineering. He loved playing with LEGOs and video games, especially SimCity.

This love of building things as a kid turned into a love of infrastructure as a high school student. Quentin chose to attend UNC Charlotte to become a civil engineer because he saw opportunities for growth. As a civil engineer, he felt like he would have the ability to affect change for people’s lives for the better.

Currently, Quentin is working with Hazen and Sawyer engineering firm in their Charlotte office. He’s considering returning for his MS in wastewater treatment design. During the pandemic, he became a member of ASCE and became active in the student chapter via virtual meetings. He wanted to get more involved with extra curriculars and wanted to make more friends in his major.

The ASCE student chapter has helped him develop both his social and professional network across the department. “It’s helped me go outside my bubble,” he added. During the 2022 Carolinas Symposium competition, Quentin stepped outside his comfort zone in a big way. He served as the co-captain of the sustainability team. He also helped with the concrete canoe and led the environmental competition, for which they got 2nd place thanks to their rain garden design. The sustainability team, however, won first place for their tiny home community design which took into consideration cradle-to-grave impacts on the whole system. Winning at the regional competition meant that his team was going to nationals.

Now, with the national competition in his rear-view mirror and graduation on the horizon, Quentin is looking forward to continuing to be active in ASCE on campus. Being a member during the pandemic was challenging for him, especially enjoying the social aspect of membership. He enjoys bringing his technical knowledge in land development, Civil 3D, and stormwater planning to the table as the UNC Charlotte chapter prepares to host Carolinas Symposium in 2024.

Shawn’s A Path to Civil: The Importance of STEM Outreach

Civil engineering had been on Shawn Sizemore‘s radar for many years before making the decision to attend UNC Charlotte. He enjoyed working with his hands on high-performing teams. His high school experience at Central Academy of Technology and Arts in Monroe NC fed that need. The school had a focus on STEAM topics, and he made the obvious choice for the E in that acronym (engineering).

During the spring of his high school senior year, he and his classmates worked hard, preparing popsicle bridges. They were set to compete against other high schools in UNC Charlotte College of Engineering’s mini civil competition (also called MC squared). He saw this as a unique and exciting experience to show his skills off–a once-a-year opportunity to shine.

That trip to the MC squared contest was also a scouting mission to find out if the William States Lee College of Engineering was a good fit for him. He knew he wanted to do engineering and was eager to have an opportunity to interact with current students at UNC Charlotte. Some of his peers had already expressed their intent to enroll in the College of Engineering at UNC Charlotte.

Approximately 100 students attend the “mini” civil competition each year. One of the purposes of MC squared, according to Dr. Erika Weber, the faculty advisor, is to increase local awareness of the department and to encourage students to consider careers in engineering. Shawn’s path to CEE proves the value of STEM outreach programs like this.

Shawn’s dream was fulfilled when he was admitted to UNC Charlotte in 2019. He matriculated to CEE during the height of the Covid19 pandemic. He was drawn to the student ASCE chapter because of the concrete canoe project, even though all the meetings were virtual at the time. Now, he’s grateful to be back to in-person campus events. He missed being with his engineering peers and professors.

This past April, the rising junior took part in an in-person regional ASCE competition for the first time. Prior competitions were held online in 2020 and 2021. This year during the Carolinas Symposium event, he had the opportunity to meet students from other engineering schools from all over the world including Thailand and Mexico. He was on the surveying team. “It felt good to win first place,” he says.

Because of their wins at Carolina Symposium in the surveying, sustainability, and innovation categories, the chapter was invited to compete in Nationals. Shawn was both honored and thrilled to compete on this level. The camaraderie he experienced with his fellow members was an added bonus.

What’s next for Shawn? He’s looking forward to serving as the 2022-2023 student chapter president. The chapter will have the honor of hosting the 2024 Carolinas Symposium. Planning for the big event has already begun. If you would like to be a sponsor or a judge, please contact the chapter via EMAIL ADDRESS. Follow them on Instagram (@uncc_asce)for updates on the chapter’s events.