October 2014

COMMUNITIES: CONSTRUCTION
Virginia Tech Student Named Recipient of Hightower Fellowship

BAAKLINI

The Professional Engineers in Construction has awarded the 2014 George B. Hightower, P.E., Fellowship to Julia Baaklini, a recent civil engineering graduate from the College of New Jersey. Baaklini is continuing her education at Virginia Tech, where she will be studying for a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering.

“When first considering all the engineering fields, civil engineering caught my attention instantly,” she writes in her application essay. “From highways to bridges and skyscrapers, the work of civil engineers is all around us. I immediately knew I wanted to be a part of the creation of these infrastructures for the world to use. However, it is the work beneath the structures that fascinates me most.”

As an undergraduate Baaklini served as president of the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and vice president of the student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers. She was also a member of Tau Beta Pi.

“I am eager to learn more and expand my knowledge of geotechnical design with a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering,” she writes. “Upon completing graduate studies, I hope to work for a construction company, attain my professional engineering license, and join the nation’s workforce in the field of construction.”