Alumni in the News
Former Rower Alex Karwoski '12 To Rio 2016 Olympics
Former Cornell heavyweight rower Alex Karwoski '12 has punched his ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as a member of the United States men's eight. The games will be held in Rio de Janeiro from August 5 - August 21.
A 2012 graduate of Cornell, Karwoski majored in Civil and Environmental Engineering. While rowing for the Big Red, he was a two year member of the varsity eight, and finished with a silver medal at the Eastern Sprints in the second varsity eight his sophomore season. Karwoski also was the recipient of the "Big Stick" award in 2012 as well as a two-time member of the Friedman Strength and Conditioning "Wall of Strength" honor. Karwoski has spent the last four years training with the United States national team with strong showings at numerous World Championships and World Rowing Cups. In 2016 he won Bronze in the men's eight at the World Rowing Cup II.
Malcolm McLaren '73 receives Rockland County Engineer in Education Award
Malcolm McLaren '73 CE, was awarded The Rockland County Chapter of the New York Society of Professional Engineers for 2017. The chapter awards annual scholarships to college-bound students who are pursuing an education in engineering, and they also recognized outstanding engineers in the County at the State Society annual awards ceremony on June 8, 2017 in White Plains, New York.
CEE Alumnus Justin Vandever recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers
Justin Vandever '04 CEE was recently recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as being one of the "New Faces of Civil Engineering" for the 2013 year. While at Cornell, Vandever worked with Phil Liu and Todd Cowen in the Defrees Hydraulics Lab studying the viscous damping and shoaling of solitary waves in a wave tank. Oftentimes, solitary waves are used to model the run-up and inundation of tsunamis. Also during Vandever's time at Cornell, he interned with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and studied tidal inlet dynamics and sediment transport on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Currently, Vandever is living in San Francisco, CA and working as a coastal engineer for AECOM, focusing on coastal flood hazard mapping, sea level rise vulnerability studies, and tidal wetland restoration design.
CEE Alumna Abena Ojetayo recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers
Cornell Engineering Alumna Abena Sackey Ojetayo was recently recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a New Face of Civil Engineering for the 2013 year. Upon completing her undergraduate degree, Abena worked for Diversity Programs in Engineering as an Assistant Director. During her time at CEE, she participated in the employee degree program and completed her M.Eng degree. She went on to work on an international development project in Nigeria before returning to Cornell last year to work as a project engineer. Upon being selected for the New Faces of Civil Engineering, Ojetayo stated, "I think that I have not necessarily taken the purest path of civil engineering, but receiving this honor from ASCE is encouraging that I have a place with the broader future of our profession. Having read about the past honorees, I was ecstatic; it's a real honor."
CEE Alumnus Levent Kahraman Devised an Innovative Trading Game for ORIE Students
Levent Kahraman CEE '92 is bridging the gap with an innovative trading game he offered to ORIE financial engineering spending their third and final semester at Cornell Financial Engineering Manhattan (CFEM). The immersive semester, which the students spend doing projects and taking classes in the heart of New York's financial district, is the captstone of the program. Last month, students spent an intense evening playing the game at the headquarters of KGS Alpha Capital Markets, where Kahraman is founder and CEO. While the game is in the tradition of "experiential learning" employed in ORIE's manufacturing courses in Ithaca, Kahraman developed it while building and managing a trading desk. Kahraman has "a strong commitment to Cornell," which he has expressed not only through organizing the game but through spending "a lot of time talking to students about the harsh realities of real life in the securities industry," he said. As a student coming to Cornell from Turkey, Kahraman learned the importance of understanding American business culture.
CEE Alum Audrey Storm in Charlottesville Woman Magazine
CEE Alumna Audrey Storm was awarded the Charlottesville Woman magazine's "4 Under 40" prize. The magazine selected four women whose lives reflect a dedication to community-mindedness, innovation and a balance between career and family. This award, which is in its first year, was created to recognize what these women "do to make the area even better than anyone thought it could be." Audrey Storm was nominated for the award by her husband David for her work as a civil engineering in the construction field. He says, "By being a female face in the field and not just in the office, Audrey can inspire women to take on challenges they might believe are closed to them and for girls still in school by learning about Audrey they can believe that they can grow up to do anything."