DFI Educational Trust awards record amount of scholarships

The DFI Educational Trust recently awarded $195,750 in scholarships, which is the largest amount ever provided during the spring round of applications. More scholarships will be awarded in the fall, thanks to the generosity of many donors and fundraising event participants and sponsors.

“Since 2006, the trust has awarded $1.6 million in scholarships and grants to at least 450 students,” says Rudy Frizzi of LANGAN and chair of the DFI Educational Trust. “Our work to attract the best and brightest students to the industry continues. The trust has committed to nearly doubling the amount of scholarship and grant awards in the coming year.”

 The awards were provided from the following DFI Educational Trust Scholarship funds to 29 exceptional students preparing for a career in the civil engineering and construction fields:

• Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship Fund (BERKEL)
• DFI Educational Trust General Fund (GENERAL)
• Francis Gularte Scholarship Fund (GULARTE)
• Clyde N. Baker Jr. Foundation Engineering Scholarship Fund (BAKER)
• Thomas Wysockey Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund (WYSOCKEY)
• John O’Malley Scholarship Fund (O’MALLEY)
• Fred H. Kulhawy Scholarship Fund (KULHAWY)
• Goble Rausche Likins Scholarship Fund (GRL)
• Terracon Consultants Scholarship Fund (TERRACON)
• Michael L. Condon Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund (CONDON)

Recent scholarship recipients are:

• Cesar Bedolla-Hurtado, junior at Washington State University, awarded $10,000 from BERKEL and BAKER
• Aynaz Biniyaz, graduate student at Michigan Technological University, awarded $5,000 from GENERAL
• Johnathan Blanchard, graduate student at University of Arkansas, awarded $10,000 from WYSOCKEY and BERKEL
• Julian Collins, junior at University of Idaho, awarded $7,500 from BERKEL and KULHAWY
• Kristina Crivello, graduate student at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, awarded $7,500 from BERKEL and GULARTE
• Erick Christian Cruz, graduate student at Texas A&M University, awarded $5,000 from GRL
• Joan Deitsch, junior at University of Notre Dame, awarded $5,000 from BERKEL
• Olivia Edwards, junior at Oregon State University, awarded $5,000 from CONDON
• Hossein Emami Ahari, graduate student at Iowa State University, awarded $10,000 from BERKEL and O’MALLEY
• Andres Espinosa, graduate student at University of Maine, awarded $5,000 from GENERAL
• Julian Feldberg, junior at Rochester Institute of Technology, awarded $5,000 from BERKEL
• Nicole Gee, sophomore at San Diego State University, awarded $5,000 from CONDON
• Jacqueline Gomez, sophomore at California State Polytechnic-Pomona, awarded $5,000 from BERKEL
• Elisabetta Iannetti, graduate student at Drexel University, awarded $5,000 from GENERAL
• Xiaohang Ji, graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, awarded $7,500 from BERKEL and GULARTE
• Amanda Lewis, graduate student at University of South Florida, awarded $5,000 from BERKEL
• Bruma Mendonca de Souza, graduate student at University of New Hampshire, awarded $10,000 from BERKEL and O’MALLEY
• Lillian Moy, sophomore at Hofstra University, awarded $10,000 from BERKEL and O’MALLEY
• Lucia Moya, graduate student at University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, awarded $10,000 from WYSOCKEY and BERKEL
• Vanessa Orchoa, sophomore at San Diego State University, awarded $5,000 from BERKEL
• Rameezali Raja, graduate student at Purdue University, awarded $10,000 from WYSOCKEY and BERKEL
• Lexie Rennemo, senior at North Dakota State University, awarded $10,000 from WYSOCKEY and BERKEL
• Venkata Abhishek Sakleshpur, graduate student at Purdue University, awarded $5,000 from GRL
• Ethan Schaefer, senior at Washington State University, awarded $5,000 from BERKEL
• Seth Tawiah, graduate student at Washington State University, awarded $5,000 from CONDON
• Joelle Westcott, graduate student at University of Colorado, Boulder, awarded $8,250 from BERKEL and TERRACON
• Chadwick Whims, senior at University of Akron, awarded $5,000 from WYSOCKEY
• Ehsan Yazdani, graduate student at Oregon State University, awarded $5,000 from CONDON
• Alexander Zubrow, junior at Virginia Tech, awarded $5,000 from BERKEL

DFI Educational Trust also recently awarded six Women in Deep Foundations (WiDF) Professional Development Grants of $1,750 each to women working in the deep foundations industry. The recipients are invited to attend DFI’s 47th Annual Conference in National Harbor, Md., October 4 through 7. The grant includes complimentary conference registration and covers related expenses for attending the conference. To support students who may be your future employees, consider donating to one of the DFI Educational Trust scholarship funds at www.dfitrust.org/donate.