Featured Alumni from the Class of 2019

 

Johnny Donza '19
December  2019

Engineering is more than just a profession; it is a way of thinking. It's a way of thinking that involves creativity and lots of math to create a better world!

After graduating Stony Brook University, I embarked on a journey to Madagascar alongside my fellow classmates and members of the Belocal Group to construct a pedestrian bridge out of bamboo for a local village. During my time there, I performed the roles of both an engineer and a laborer in designing and constructing two simply supported girder bridges. The bridges were part of a research initiative where we were trying to evaluate the feasibility of using bamboo in place of traditional wood as a construction material.

After spending a little over a month in Madagascar, I returned to New York to continue my graduate studies in Structural Engineering at Columbia University. During my first year, I worked part-time as a carpenter’s assistant where I got the opportunity to experience hands-on construction. I later began working at Severud Associates, a structural engineering firm based in New York City. As an intern, my main responsibilities included reviewing shop drawings, analyzing structures using finite element models, and designing beams, columns, and slabs for building construction projects. After completing my Masters, I will begin working full-time at Severud Associates as a Structural Engineer where I look forward to continuing to design New York’s skyline!

Of all engineering professions, I personally believe that Civil Engineering is one of the most fundamental and intuitive. Throughout human history, there has always been an instinctive demand for housing, bridges, highways, and public facilities. Without these infrastructural developments, modern society would not exist as it does today. With that being said, becoming a Civil Engineer is not only a job but also a life-long commitment in helping to shape a brighter future.

 

Feng Rong '19
May 2021

My time at Stony Brook University was full of memorable moments. I will never forget the summer I spent in the Sustainable Geotechnics Lab with Professor Abdelaziz’s research team and the countless experiments we performed on biopolymers for in-situ soil improvements. I also look back fondly on my time spent on the ASCE Concrete Canoe team. In my senior year, we designed and casted a lightweight concrete canoe that took fourth place in the regional competition.

My exposure to research in Civil Engineering at Stony Brook University inspired me to pursue a Master’s Degree after graduating with my B.E. Now, I’m studying Structural Engineering at Columbia University, and I expect to complete my M.S. degree in April, 2021. In the meantime, I am working full-time as an Assistant Engineer with the New York State Department of Transportation. I really enjoy the opportunity to study theory in depth while gaining hands-on experience. At DOT, I get the participate in projects at different stages and learn new skills. I've expanded my knowledge through conducting accident analysises, cost estimates, and highway designs using MicroStation. I look forward to obtaining my Professional Engineer license in the next few years and utilizing what I have learned through both my B.E. and M.S. programs in my career. I am also excited about continuing to work towards a safer and sustainable world.

 

 

 

 

Stephan Ungar '19
February 2020

I was always interested in our built environment. From trains to buildings, you name it, I was interested. That is what truly attracted me to Civil Engineering; the profession has such a wide range of applications when it comes to fields of study and it really allowed me to explore different aspects of the world that we create for ourselves. I was interested in sustainability within the engineering field, and I really wanted to work on how we can make current methods and processes more forward thinking. I completed my Bachelor’s degree specializing in Structural Engineering and Construction Materials, and worked on a beneficial use determination for recycled glass aggregate as a construction material for my senior design project. My group explored the properties of our provided glass aggregate from landfill, established what cleaning processes were needed, tested the materials properties, and determined applications for the material. Our goal was to demonstrate the very numerous uses for glass to be recycled in the construction industry here on Long Island rather than being sent to the landfill.

I was accepted into the Civil Engineering Accelerated Program right before my senior year. This allowed me to take 6 credits across my last two semesters that would count towards both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. The summer between my undergraduate and graduate programs, I interned with H2M architects + engineers as a member of their wastewater group at their headquarters in Melville, NY. During this time, I participated as a member of a full time engineering team and finally applied what I have learned to real world situations and problems. I toured operating wastewater treatment facilities, worked on active sewering projects within the local communities, and even presented on the implementation of Biosolids production on Long Island.

I am currently working under Dr. Xinwei Mao as a graduate research assistant for her Environmental Engineering and Science Lab. My current work is on the reduction, reuse, and recycling of vehicle wash water for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). I work on analyzing water samples from winter maintenance vehicle wash water, gaining invaluable experience. The samples I am analyzing from DOT facilities have a high salt content, and are known to cause damage to surrounding ecosystems, such as the loss of local vegetation, contamination of soils, lakes, rivers and streams, groundwater supplies, and increased salt loadings to wastewater treatment plants. Over the past decades the levels of contaminants from winter maintenance materials being applied to roadways has greatly escalated, and the large volumes of wash water that are discharged from facilities carry other things such as oil and grease, anti-freezing reagents and suspended solids into the environment. In completing this research, my goal is to have a complete seasonal analysis of the yearly trends to develop a better understanding of what we are putting into our environment and how we can reduce our impact. In working under Dr. Mao, I am very excited to be a part of the solution and dedicate my masters working towards a solution.

During my time here at Stony Brook University, I have learned valuable lessons and had some great experiences. From my time working in several leadership positions and being a student, I realized I wanted to use my skills to create something that would have a lasting positive impact on the Stony Brook community. During my senior year, with the help of several other people, I was founding president of oSTEM at Stony Brook University. It’s an organization dedicated to preparing LGBTQ* students for professions and leadership within the STEM fields. The group aims to achieve this goal through exposure to information, programs, workshops, and connections with other LGBTQ* professionals and alum within the STEM field. oSTEM also encourages professional skill development by allowing students to work together productively on service opportunities, career-oriented workshops, and professional development. In the formation of this organization, I was able to culminate my experiences as a student leader and a student of STEM to create a space that I knew was much needed here at Stony Brook, and was so recognized with the “Best New Organization Award” at the Jerrold L. Stein Student Life Awards in May 2019.

After the completion of my masters, I am looking forward to starting as a Staff Engineer with H2M’s Wastewater group located in Melville, NY. I’ll always be thankful for the challenges I have experienced and the lessons that I have learned while I attending SBU. I look forward to using all that I have learned and putting it into creating a more sustainable world.