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Emma Andreasen

Hometown: Delano, Minnesota
Year and major: Senior in structural engineering

While growing up in the small rural town of Delano, Minnesota (population 5,000), Emma Andreasen wasn’t exposed to common software, such as Microsoft Excel. Today the senior is a teaching assistant for the civil engineering department’s Intro to Engineering Computing course, which uses an array of programming tools, including MATLר and Python. 

She's also the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Undergraduate of the College of Engineering and Applied Science Award.

“I never imagined programming when I was in high school,” says Andreasen, who will graduate in December with a BS in civil engineering.

Next summer, Andreasen will begin working at Kiewit Corporation as a structural engineer. And as a student in the Bachelor’s-Accelerated Master’s (BAM) program, she’s on course to finish her master’s degree in structural engineering in December 2023.

Why did you choose to major in civil engineering? 

Professor Abbie Liel described how civil engineering allowed her to be “an engineer for people,” and directly see the impact on the world. She emphasized that civil engineers are responsible for designing and constructing the buildings and bridges we use every day. That resonated with me a lot. 

Why did you choose to study civil engineering at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder? 

I wanted to leave Minnesota and see something new. ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder has a highly ranked engineering program that is very competitive. I came in as both a BOLD Leadership Scholar and a Norlin Scholar, and I knew I would have a lot of opportunities here. So I decided to move to beautiful Boulder. 

Norlin required two courses that focused on finding our passions and professional development. It helped me see what’s out there, relate that back to myself and decide what’s next. BOLD encourages you to participate in different engineering groups. So I have been involved with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Kiewit Design-Build Scholars Program.

Tell me more about some of the enrichment activities have you been involved in at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ.

Kiewit Design-Build Scholar Program 
I joined the Kiewit program in January 2020, during COVID, but even then, Kiewit provided support and opportunities. They took us on site visits and connected us with industry leaders, which led to one-on-one mentorship meetings. They also connected us with HR advisors who guided us through the  interview process for internships. One cool site visit during COVID was the I-70 (Denver) project. I visited it in spring 2020, and subsequently saw it three other times—all the way to its completion. Seeing the progression on such a massive project was a great experience. 

I met my first Kiewit mentor online, as she worked in the California Kiewit office. She talked a lot about professional development and resume building, and connected us with HR advisors to get the interview process going. My second advisor was a structural engineer, and he was also big on professional development. He connected me with the right people to get a structural internship, and this past summer I was able to intern with Kiewit because of the connections I made in the Kiewit Scholars program. Both mentors would talk from a very personal perspective about the benefits that Kiewit offered—they weren’t trying to sway me one way or another. They gave me the facts, and that was very helpful in figuring out what's next. 

ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder women’s rugby—president and team captain
I was in a D1 Club team so we competed in the Rocky Mountain Division against the Air Force Academy, ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ State University, and the universities of Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico. 2021 was the first time ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ beat the Air Force Academy in decades. Winning was an incredible achievement for our team. In 2021 we earned a spot in the Elite 8 at CRAA Women’s D1 Regionals in Oklahoma. We didn’t win, but it was a cool experience.

Club intramural sports are a great way to destress. Also, it’s a great community; my rugby team are some of my best friends. Having that support system has been crucial in engineering. Many of them are also civil engineers, and I encouraged them to apply for the Kiewit Design Build Scholar Program, and now, they too, are Kiewit scholars. 

• Kiewit Design-Build Scholars Program
• Norlin Scholars Program
• BOLD Leadership Scholarship
• Dorothy Martin Endowment Fund, 2021-2022 & 2022-2023
• Ernest R. and Bernice N. Schultz scholarship, 2022-2023

Enrichment Activities

• (SWE)
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• Chi Epsilon (civil engineering honors fraternity)
• University of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Women’s Rugby, president and team captain

What were some of your most meaningful projects at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ?

My junior year I became involved with the , and Kiita scholarship recipients travel to Mexico twice each year. A lot of refugees get sent to Agua Preita even if they aren’t from there. They don’t speak the same language as their neighbors. They are put in the city with absolutely nothing. The foundation provides support for the community, including food drives and scholarships for kids to attend private school. Last year we poured a house foundation and did a massive food distribution.Another meaningful project was my internship with Milender White, where I worked as a field engineer on the Stout Street Recuperative Care and Legacy Lofts project in downtown Denver. We were constructing a nine-story assisted living center aimed at providing affordable housing for community members experiencing homelessness or in need of medically supportive housing.  There was a large tent encampment around the site, and we could see people struggling. The completed project will help people who are struggling get back up on their feet. At Stout Street I assisted with quality-control/inspections of pipe sleeves, block-outs, rebar, embeds and concrete in a slab-on-grade, three post-tensioned decks and six Infinity framed decks; maintained safety on-site through daily observations, weekly inspections, and monthly audits and documented progress of subcontractors through comprehensive trend charts and daily logs.

Is there anything you want to tell students who are considering ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder? 

Students are drawn to ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ for the mountains and this vibe of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder. 

The engineering program has many opportunities. You can come to ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ, take classes and get a degree. Or you can also immerse yourself in the opportunities, and in doing that, your experience will be completely different. These programs are here to help you. The mentors, the groups that run these programs want to see you succeed. 

As a prospective student, get involved in as many programs as possible—the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Kiewit program, the Society of Women Engineers or any of the other diversity engineering programs and clubs. And don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Take it one day at a time. You are going to get stressed—it’s engineering. Don’t focus on school for an hour. Get lunch, get coffee, go to the rec center. Take that time for yourself, because the moments you take now will propel you tomorrow and the next day and the next. 

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Above: Team members and sponsors officially break ground on the Solar Decathlon home.
Header Image: Team members and project sponsors at the construction site.

ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder’s in partnership with Flatirons Habitat for Humanity, has broken ground on a net-zero energy home that is part of the Ponderosa Community Stabilization Project.

The mobile home park is owned by the City of Boulder and along with Flatirons Habitat aims to minimize displacement, preserve long-term affordability, replace outdated infrastructure, reduce flood risk to the community and introduce new energy-efficient affordable housing options. Both entities are working together to build more than 60 homes at Ponderosa over the next 10 years.

The groundbreaking, held October 28, celebrates the start of the construction process for the net-zero energy home known as the Canopy House. This will be ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder’s entry in an international competition known as the Solar Decathlon.

The team of students will be instrumental in helping to build the carriage-style Canopy House at Ponderosa, which is a diverse and tight-knit community in North Boulder. The goal is to have the home completed by March and it would then be purchased by a family living at Ponderosa.

The home itself will include a garage and 700 square feet of living space situated on top. Once finished, the community will be able to tour the home and learn more about the construction and sustainable building practices.

The Canopy House will be the second structure built as a result of the Ponderosa Community Stabilization Project. The first is a triplex that started construction earlier this year and is slated to be completed in 2023.

This is ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder’s fifth time participating in the Solar Decathlon, a competition in which students from across the globe design and build a net-zero energy building in their community. These high-performance, low-carbon buildings aim to mitigate climate change and improve quality of life through greater affordability, resilience, and energy efficiency.

ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder students, who have won the competition three times, will be using sustainable materials and technology to build their state-of-the-art energy efficient carriage-style home at Ponderosa. The group of local students will be one of 20 teams competing this year.

The high-performance home designed by the ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ students will leverage Passive House strategies of improved insulation and air-tightness with an emphasis on indoor air quality. The fully electric home will be powered by a combination of solar and green hydrogen energy to maximize its renewable energy use.

“Our mission is to educate the local community on sustainable and energy efficient building practices. We were excited to collaborate with (Flatirons Habitat) because it gives us the opportunity to leverage their relationship with the local community to communicate our mission,” said Kyle Biega, who is leading the ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder team along with Jarod Concha.   

“Additionally, working with (Flatirons Habitat) gives our students valuable construction experience as they begin to enter the clean energy workforce. We are proud to be able to work with the City of Boulder and (Flatirons Habitat) to make a positive impact in our backyard,” Biega added.   

ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ 10 students did the design work for carriage-style home innovations and about 20 students in total are expected to help build the home. The team consists of multidisciplinary students from the university’s programs in engineering and design.

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Mission Zero is highlighting the work of the University of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder Solar Decathlon team.

The student team is preparing to build an affordable, energy-efficient home as part of a U.S. Department of Energy college competition.

Mission Zero, a Boulder-based climate advocacy group that works with ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder students, has produced a video showcasing the home project, which hopes to break ground this summer.

The team is still fundraising for the home project. If you would like to contribute,

Watch the video below  

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3CZpvBEVm0]

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Graduating senior and BOLD Scholar Joelle Westcott (CivEngr'22) has been recognized by the College of Engineering with a Global Engagement Award and a Research Award for her engineering photography and research projects.

What is your major? What interested you in that major?

My major is Civil Engineering with an emphasis in geotechnical engineering and a minor in global engineering. I chose to study civil engineering because I felt that it was a field in which I could make a tangible and positive impact on society in general and particularly on people who have been previously disadvantaged. Various case studies show the importance of ethical and thoughtful engineering and it was something I couldn’t wait to be a part of. 

Were you involved in any BOLD student societies, if so what was the experience like?

I was involved in the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and I really enjoyed my experiences as a member of SWE. Through the society, I was able to meet a range of people who identified as women or allies and I enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them! 

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend the SWE Local conference in my first year and the SWE national conference in my fourth year. Attending these conferences was really inspiring and it also gave me the confidence and perspective that having perfect test scores is not all that important in the grand scheme of things. 

How did it feel to be recognized for the work that you’ve done?

Being recognized for the work I have done feels amazing because I feel like it honors my innate curiosity, drive, commitment, and passion for engineering. I am truly honored and grateful. 

What is the most important lesson you learned as an engineering student?

I think the most important lesson I have learned is that you must be an active learner. It is critical to ask questions, engage with the material, and truly understand the concepts. 

You can gain an immense amount of experience and even learn about new opportunities by asking questions.  

What was a struggle you went through as an engineering student? What helped you persist?

Throughout engineering school, I struggled through tough courses. Sometimes it seemed that no matter how hard I tried and no matter how many office hours I attended, I just couldn't wrap my head around certain concepts. 

Throughout my engineering career, I had various mentors that told me to just keep pushing and to learn as much as I could along the way. Eventually, with time, this mindset helped me continue to learn and grow which really helped me eventually overcome the challenge of certain courses.  

Additionally, my countless peers also helped me persist by always being willing to discuss concepts or homework. 

What’s next? 

After I graduate with my Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with a Global Engineering minor, I will complete the rest of my Master’s of Science in Geotechnical Engineering where I will be following the thesis track. 

Following that, I will begin working at the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL) at the Department of Defense’s Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC). 

As far as an end goal, I am not exactly sure yet but I do know that I want to work on challenging projects that truly make a difference while finding a balance between working with my hands and also critically thinking about problems that require me to apply my engineering skills. 

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A team of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder students took 3rd place in the 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers Rocky Mountain Region Student Symposium Competition.

The event was held April 8-9 in Golden and features a series of technical paper and design competitions, in addition to a series of races featuring student designed concrete canoes.

Congratulations to students Anita Ashoury, Gabi Dunn, Jax Henry, Brooklyn Lash, Dana Majer, Rebecca Perez, Wesley Teeter, Macy Will, Joelle Westcott, and Zhiren Zhou.

• ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder was 3rd overall at the symposium/competition.
• ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder earned 3rd in canoe Final Product Presentation.
• Joelle Westcott was 1st in the Technical Paper competition.
• Daniel Donado was 1st in the Non-technical Paper competition.
• The Pre-Design team took 3rd place in the Pre-design competition.

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Two students in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering have earned a major honor from the National Science Foundation.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.

Jasmine Garland and Martin Torres have each earned the fellowship, which includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $34,000, a cost of education allowance, and professional development opportunities.

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Briar Goldwyn is a fourth-year PhD student researching multi-hazard housing safety and disaster risk reduction in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and the Construction and Engineering Management program at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder. 

She recently returned from fieldwork in Puerto Rico and has been active there for years through projects that center on the needs, concerns, and real-world challenges of Puerto Rican builders and homeowners.

Goldwyn’s latest focuses on informal housing construction in Puerto Rico, in which owners and builders are either unable or unwilling to enter formal construction processes. Her latest project focuses on how those dynamics impact the island during disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. This project brings together collaborators from across campus, including professors Amy Javernick-Will and Abbie Liel in Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering and Matthew Koschmann in Communication.  In addition, Goldwyn has had multiple Puerto Rican students, and organizations, assisting with the project.

Most of the previous work in this area has been done from a post-disaster reconnaissance perspective, which shows damage and reveals structural vulnerabilities. Goldwyn is instead trying to investigate the perspectives of those constructing and occupying these homes to better understand their perceptions of housing safety and disaster risk ahead of time.

We asked her about the real-world applications of her research, why she is passionate about it and where the work may go in the future.

Question: What is the project you were recently working on in Puerto Rico and how did you get involved with it? 
Answer: Since the start of my PhD, I have been focused on understanding the housing safety perceptions of those involved in construction across Puerto Rico and how those perceptions do and do not align with actual engineering assessments of housing safety in hurricanes and earthquakes. For this project, I interviewed and surveyed over 400 builders, homeowners, hardware store employees, and non-governmental organization staff to understand their perceptions of the housing design and construction practices that are unsafe in future hazards – and the reasons that lead to these unsafe practices. Then, I worked with structural engineering colleagues to compare those perceptions with current wind and seismic engineering assessments to identify misalignments between the two. We took the resulting information and are now working with local experts to identify a few areas for technical construction capacity-building in response to what we found.

Q: Can you explain what you mean by technical construction capacity-building?
A: One way we are trying to support technical construction capacity-building in the project is by piloting a short educational module for 20 people in existing construction training programs specifically around hurricane mitigation for wood housing. The feedback from that program was positive, and now there are several more practical steps that I plan to take this summer to be able to support more community-based and grassroots organizations working in this space to build skills and awareness – or put another way, capacity.

Q: Did you work with any groups on the island for this project?
A: Yes, I piloted that technical construction capacity-building approach alongside two locally based organizations in Puerto Rico. We trained the organizations on methods of choosing and installing hurricane straps to avoid catastrophic and costly structural failures. Additionally, Cole Velasquez, an undergraduate student, has been helping me with this project for the past year through the Discovery Learning Apprenticeship program in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Q: Was this a research question or area you were interested in before joining the project? 
A: I always knew that I wanted to work on ensuring that infrastructure is safe and equitable, especially in regions prone to natural hazards. As I was applying to this PhD program in fall 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria were devastating Puerto Rico, and I ended up writing my application about studying the impacts of different forms of housing aid after the hurricanes. But when I arrived in Puerto Rico in June 2019 for my first fieldwork trip, I realized that research topic would not be viable because of the realities of limited international aid and inaccessible federal aid. That summer, so many amazing people welcomed me into their homes and talked to me about their experiences with the hurricanes, their worries about their housing safety, and the policies that tied everything together. All of which inform and intersect with my research today.

I also just finished an internship funded by the National Science Foundation with , which is a convening organization for non-governmental organizations working towards global change. With them, I researched coverage of humanitarian shelter and settlements assistance, and it was a great experience because I got to be looped into big-picture conversations on advocacy and change within humanitarian aid and development.

Q: Where will the research go from here? 
A: Puerto Rico's infrastructure is an incredibly challenging topic that is wrapped up in its colonial history. School infrastructure, for example, is a major concern there because – despite this critical public infrastructure being constructed formally – most of it is still vulnerable to the impacts of earthquakes and hurricanes. One school in Guánica, Puerto Rico, was destroyed in the 2019-20 earthquakes, and many other schools still possess the same structural vulnerabilities that led to that particular collapse. Moreover, Puerto Rico's housing stock is aging and in need of repair and reconstruction to be able to withstand future shocks and stresses from hazards. Many individuals I have spoken with have been really concerned with the lack of construction labor trained to build housing that is safe during hurricanes and earthquakes. 

So there are many aspects that could be studied, and I think future work should start with discussions with local groups to understand their infrastructure-related research priorities and then work with them to design a project to address those topics. 

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University of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder students are building a canoe out of concrete.

The ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder student chapter for the American Society of Civil Engineers are constructing their concrete canoe in preparation for the 2022 ASCE Rocky Mountain Student Symposium in Golden, CO, where they will compete against other university teams.

The team spent eight long hours placing two 1/2" layers of lightweight concrete into the 20 ft long mold with mesh reinforcement between the layers. This year's canoe is named "The Phoenix", which honors the victims of the Marshall Fire and first responders.

The ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition provides competitors a unique opportunity to gain hands-on practical experience while testing their skills with concrete mix designs and project management challenges.

The annual event will be held April 8-9 at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ School of Mines.

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The University of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder earned 2nd place in the 2022 ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Contractors Association (CCA) Heavy Civil Competition.

The team, named "Ralphie's Builders", competed at the CCA Annual Conference on Jan. 27. The annual competition calls for teams of students to develop a proposal and presentation for a heavy civil construction project.

The team included civil and architectural engineerring undergraduates:

• Frances Appelgarth, Senior Estimator
• Anita Ashoury, Senior Project Engineer
• Michael Colpack, Superintendent
• Zoe Kresek, Safety/Quality Manager
• Daniel Donado Quintero, Project Manager

Congratulations!

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The team is running a crowdfunding campaign in January and February to make the home a success.

An interdisciplinary team of students are building a super energy-efficient home for a national competition, and they need your help to be successful.

The University of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder Solar Decathlon team is taking part in a U.S. Department of Energy college competition to design and build an affordable, energy-efficient home.

“This contest is about bringing newer and more sustainable designs to industry,” said Wes McEvoy, a sophomore electrical engineering student and co-leader for the ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder team.

The competition is full-scale. Students are not tasked with completing only paper diagrams or a model; they are building a house from the ground up, and one day it will become someone’s home.

The team has partnered with Habitat for Humanity and the City of Boulder to build the home as part of the Ponderosa affordable-housing revitalization project in North Boulder.

“Habitat has been generous enough to donate one of the lots to us,” said Kyle Biega, an architectural engineering master’s student and fellow team co-leader. “We’ll be taking a base home design and modifying it to get to net zero energy. Our goal is to really improve consumption and energy efficiency and make this a model home that could be replicated throughout the community.”

ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder has ample experience in Solar Decathlon, with teams earning first place nationally three different times, including the 2021 competition. The 2021 home was in Fraser, CO and the team was working with existing property owners who were able to pay for much of the project.

This time around, fundraising is necessary.

“When you build a build a super-efficient house there can be a premium with the upfront costs,” Biega said. “But we want to show sustainable design can be affordable. All of our design decisions come back to ideas being repeatable and affordable. That’s our whole mission.”

To finesse their plans, the team, which is comprised of students from across engineering disciplines and environmental design, have split into five sub-groups: architecture, structural, electrical, HVAC and systems. They will submit formal construction documents in March and make a final presentation on the plans to the Solar Decathlon completion in April. Construction will start this summer.

“A lot of our emphasis is on envelope design in insulation and airtightness,” Biega said. “We’re utilizing components of the Passive House Standard, which goes above and beyond local code. We have free ways to cool the home from orientation and shading, and options for passive solar heating.”

The project will also incorporate smart technology and an app to allow the eventual homeowner to track energy usage in real-time.

The team sees the home as a way to showcase new technology to residents along the Front Range.

“We want to say, ‘Hey, look at all the things you can do in a home design to make it better for the environment.’ We’re looking to promote better, sustainable and more efficient ways to live,” Mcevoy said. “Money given to this project will be fed directly back into the community. It goes into building a very efficient and sustainable home for a family that needs affordable housing.”

If you are interested in helping out, the They are also interested in networking with professional engineers for guidance on the project. If you are interested in getting involved, email solardecathlon@colorado.edu.

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