Andres Urrego and Maria Martinez, two Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) students at Florida International University (FIU) were the recipients of a $1,000 Florida Structural Engineers Association Scholarship.

Maria Martinez is an undergraduate CEE department senior. Her resume includes a structural internship for Eastern Engineering, a project manager internshp for NextEra Engery and work experience for the Runway Expansion of the Fort-Lauderdale Airport in Florida. Maria is currently an active member of the FIU Student Support Services and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Her awards include: the MPAS Excellence Award, McNair and NACME Fellowship, Bank of America Scholarship, Sarah and Solomen Rosenberg Scholarship, Dr. Emilio Jane Scholarship and the FGLSAMP Scholarship. During her undergraduate career, Maria participated in a research project in Ultra High Performance Concrete, while working as a part time Math and Science Tutor at FlU as well as taking several engineering classes and consecutively making the Dean’s List. Maria plans on obtaining her Masters and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with specific emphasis on Higher Performance Structures.

 Andres Urrego was chosen to be part of an accelerated program that combines both undergraduate and graduate classes, which means he is two semesters away from graduating with his Master’s in Civil Engineering. However, Andres is not only impressive for his academic excellence, his extracurricular activities are also something to be marveled.  Andres is currently active in the Society of Engineers student chapter, American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter, Engineers without borders student chapter and the American Concrete Institute student chapter at FIU. In addition to his busy class and extracurricular schedule, Andres has also been working at the Titan American Structures and Construction Testing Laboratory as a research assistant for over a year. After Andres graduates, he plans on working in a design or consulting firm where he can develop his skills and learn the ropes as an engineer.                           The CEE Department is proud to congratulate Maria and Andres on all of their hard work and achievements.