Sophie Lipomanis Named ASCE National Student Ambassador for Second Year

Junior Sophie Lipomanis fell in love with civil engineering. So much so that she transferred from Rutgers University where she had been a senior in medical engineering, and changed her course of study. Now for the second year in a row, Sophie has been named as a National Student Ambassador for American Society of Civil Engineers, one of only 27 students internationally to receive the honor.

As an ASCE officer, Sophie was an instrumental part in the Speed School ASCE student chapter experiencing exponential growth in the past two years, and receiving the 2020 Student Organization of the Year Award.

Sophie’s experiences with ASCE conferences paved the way for her accomplishments in the field and set her career path. At the Construction Institute’s Student Days competition in Washington, DC in July 2019, Sophie and two other Speed School Students participated in a rigorous five-day competition. Sophie’s team came in second place, losing the top prize by .03 points.  Sophie and another student, Alex Beebe, won Best Speakers at the event.

That conference led to Sophie’s selection as Outstanding Student of the Year, a national award presented in front of 400 professional engineers at the Construction Institute Summit in Los Angeles.

As a National Student Ambassador, Sophie makes students aware of the benefits of being involved in ASCE while in school and even beyond. “That’s why ASCE is so cool,” said Sophie. “They have so many professional opportunities and you won’t feel abandoned once you leave college. They will help with licensure and your engineering training exam, and they provide conferences and technical institutes on all kinds of civil engineering from water to structures and bridges, geotechnical, surveying, hydraulics, I could go on and on,” she said. “You can connect with professionals in all these areas.”

Another aspect of Sophie’s ambassadorship is spending time as a STEM advocate in schools. Jeffersonville, Indiana-based company Maker13 has a Maker Mobile program, a traveling makerspace where they visit schools to expose kids of all ages to creative and advanced manufacturing tools like lasers, 3D printers and more. “We let the kids play on 3D printers and we tell them about different engineering devices,” said Sophie. “It’s great to start them young and get them excited.”

Currently, Sophie is in her first week doing a full-time fall rotation co-op with CPMI – Capital Project Management, which provides expert civil engineering testimonies for courts on construction delays on projects and forensic analysis.

“I didn’t realize that was even an application,” said Sophie. “It just goes to show you. Engineering is everywhere.”