Dave Jones Scholarship 2020

For most of my time as a civil engineering student, my goal was to become a municipal engineer that would improve the lives of citizens through the power of infrastructure. Having already worked for two cities, my dream was to become a City Engineer and make a positive impact on a community. When I thought about what that meant, I would usually think of roads. One option was working in a large city like where I could be part of maintaining complex road systems that exist above a living history of infrastructure. Another involved working in a small city where I could make the most impact possible. I no longer have plans to pursue these kinds of positions, but I have felt a calling for working in pavement since I started working to become a civil engineer.
Two years ago, I took the only pavement-focused class in my civil engineering program. The professor was my departmental advisor, Dr. Mihai Marasteanu. I loved the class. What really grabbed me was learning about the mechanics of asphalt and how a bunch of rocks and adhesive could be made into a material that stands up to the daily abuse of thousands of vehicles. I shortly approached Professor Marasteanu to ask about possible research opportunities. He brought me to MnDOT’s Office of Materials and Road Research where I ended up working on a project that investigated the reliability of the GPR antennas they were using in their Density Profiling System (DPS). That fall semester, I applied for the civil engineering department’s graduate program.
After being accepted into the graduate program, I applied to work as a Student Para Professional in the research department at MnDOT’s Office of Materials and Road Research (OMRR). I was hired for the position and placed under Dr. Eyoab Zegeye-Teshale. The first project I worked on that summer was the DPS project. For some context, MnDOT’s DPS is a system that utilizes dielectric measurements from GPR to calculate the density of a newly laid asphalt pavement. I worked with a contractor doing a mill and overlay project on TH21. I was in charge of making sure the data collection went smoothly. I would monitor progress, provide necessary assistance, and gather validation data at the job site. Through that project, I learned much about the process of highway maintenance and collaborating with paving contractors.
The Road Doctor (RD) is likely the most substantial project that I have been a part of. It is a unique survey van system that is comprised of a fully-equipped survey van and a data processing software that allows for the synchronization of many kinds of data. The van has tools that can collect many kinds of data. Much of the work we have done so far has been to understand the system and its capabilities, but we are working to develop it into a tool for project scoping and site investigation. We have worked at length at MnDOT’s MnROAD facility to determine how it can be used best to assess and help asphalt roads. We conducted a case study of a road where 16 test cells were installed to determine how the changes made to the road affected its ride quality and rutting.
My biggest interest in the field of asphalt is something that I have not even mentioned yet. When I first approached Professor Marasteanu about doing research, I asked him if I could work with bio-asphalts. He had mentioned the emergence of alternative asphalt technologies in his class, and it was an idea that excited me. I wanted to be able to work in pavements and do my part to help fight the climate crisis. I believe the future is in asphalt bio-rejuvenators. There is work being done in this field at MnDOT, and I hope to get more involved with it when it comes time to work on my master’s thesis. My ultimate career goal has remained the same. I want to improve people’s standard of living through whatever means I can. I believe the way I can do that most effectively is through making pavements stronger and more environmentally friendly.

The job that has provided me with the most work experience relevant to the highway industry has been my position as a student worker with MnDOT’s OMRR. As I explained in my previous essay, this job has provided me with opportunities to work on highway construction jobs in close collaboration with contractors. I have also been able to work on projects that focus on the study of materials used in the base layer of highways. Through the RD project, I have been involved in multiple highway site investigations. We collected data on both I-94 in the twin cities and I-90 near Adrien, MN to try to identify concrete panel delamination.
My two previous internships were not highway related specifically, but they did provide me with work experience in the fields of local road construction and maintenance. I worked as an engineering intern for the City of Eagan during the summer of 2017. My main project that summer was the planning of and preparation for the following summer’s street reconstruction activities. This project had me go into the field to determine street and utility conditions, create base maps for the projects, prepare much of the feasibility reports for the projects. The next summer, I worked for Stantec Inc. as a Community Development Intern. In this job, I was able to work both as a surveyor and an inspector on road construction and maintenance projects. The most valuable thing I gained from this job was a much deeper understanding of all of the different pieces that must work together perfectly for a road construction job to be successful.

In the Fall of 2018, I was awarded the Gene Skok Scholarship for undergraduates with an interest in pavement engineering. That same semester I was awarded the Jack and Sue Cornwell Memorial Scholarship for students with high academic achievement. I am a member of the Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society for students that “have exemplified the principles of scholarship, character, practicality, and sociability…in the civil engineering profession”.

The two hobbies that I am most passionate about are keeping up with new music and new movies. My closest friends and I have really built our relationship around following these two medias and keeping track of what is playing well with critics, at the box office, and on the charts. It is a kind of spectator sport, where the scores are pretty much subjective, and the number of teams is infinite.
I also love exercising outdoors, particularly running and biking. I was a cross country runner in high school, and the love of running I discovered during that time has followed me ever since. The two activities serve different purposes. Running has always been a way that I could tune everything out after a stressful day. It allows me to listen to music or a podcast and just look at the pavement in front of my feet for an hour or so. I have always used biking to absorb the world around me. Before I got my driver’s license, I decided I would need to know how to navigate the streets of my hometown. I would go on long bike rides with the express purpose of getting lost in one of Lakeville’s neighborhoods just so I would have to figure out where I was going. Ever since then, biking has allowed me to observe the places I’ve lived in.
I am also a very politically minded person. This past summer I joined the Sunrise Movement for Climate Action. I have also been volunteering for a candidate’s campaign for the presidency. I believe that my work will not stop once I leave the office. I want to make a difference in every part of my life.

Other than being involved in my research and coursework, I participate in many school activities. I am an active member of the University of Minnesota’s chapter of the Chi Epsilon Honor Society. As a group, we plan and put on events such as Red Cross blood drives, finals week open pancake breakfasts, and trash cleanup days along the Mississippi river. I am also a member of my school’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In the fall of my sophomore year, I started a club at my school called the Music Sharing Club. I started the club because I recognized a lack of groups at the University that were dedicated to making a space for students to share the music they love with others. I acted as president and organizer of the club for two and a half years. In that time, the club grew from just being my roommates and I into a large group of students and friends that share a diverse set of musical interests. Creating and growing the Music Sharing Club has been one of my proudest achievements, and I’m excited to see it grow in the future.