Lafayette Engineering

With Pride Month underway, we celebrate the LGBTQ+ members of our community and the allies who stand beside them. We're proud to support a culture of inclusion, respect, and belonging—not just this month, but all year long. 🏳️‍🌈

Twelve straight years. Still climbing. 🏔️

Fresh off a 4th-place finish at the national steel bridge competition, Lafayette's Steel Bridge Team took in the views on a hike in El Paso the day after Nationals. 🌉

Congratulations to:
🔹 Marc Radossich '26 (captain)
🔹 Robbie Snyders '26
🔹 Rory Lunbeck '26
🔹 Brendan Fossetta '27

Their top-five finish marks Lafayette's 12th consecutive year placing in the top five nationally! 🐆✨

"It was incredible that a 4-person team managed to finish 4th in the country. I’m sure we were the smallest team at nationals," said Prof. Steve Kurtz, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and steel bridge mentor.

Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Kenzie Burns was awarded a spring semester information literacy grant sponsored by Lafayette’s Library and the Office of the Provost. She used it to lead students in CE 203: Envisioning a Sustainable World through an investigation of local data centers. Students conducted "textual interrogations" to analyze the environmental, economic, and social footprints of these facilities while identifying which community perspectives were represented or missing from the discourse. 👏

💻🌱 Throughout the semester, students engaged in hands-on learning experiences, including:

A waste audit: Students collected their personal trash for a week, then sorted and weighed it with help from Adrienne Fors from Waste Management.

Sustainability tours: Students visited the campus composting site to learn more about the sustainable food loop.

A symposium: Students finished off the semester by presenting group research on how data centers impact local communities.

Kudos to Prof. Burns and the CE 203 students for bridging engineering, information literacy, and community impact! 🌍

☀ Great turnout and vibes for the summer research scholars launch! 👓

With more than 60 students participating in summer research across the Engineering Division—one of our highest numbers ever—it promises to be a summer of discovery, collaboration, and great community.

We’re excited to see what this group explores over the coming weeks. 🔬⚙🧬🛠

Congratulations to our engineering faculty and staff on recent well-deserved awards, promotions, and appointments!

🏆 Faculty & Staff Awards

Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering David Mante – Recipient of the B. Vincent Viscomi Engineering Prize for Excellence in Mentoring and Teaching.

Engineering Technician Rob Layng – Recipient of the Lafayette College Distinguished Service Award.

✨ Promotion to full Professor

Lindsay Soh (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Department Head)

Yih-Choung Yu (Electrical & Computer Engineering, Acting Department Head)

🎓 Endowed Chairs & Scholars

Associate Professor Michael Senra – Appointed as the James T. Marcus ‘50 Scholar of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering for a three-year term.

Professor and Department Head Michael McGuire – Named the Simon Cameron Long Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

The Mechanical Engineering Department wrapped up the year with some strikes, spares, and camaraderie at the bowling alley! In addition to getting a great group photo of the graduating ME class with some of the ME faculty, the group honored the 2026 award winners:

🏆 Carl G., Jr. ’67 and Deborah B. Anderson P’01 Mechanical Engineering Prize For high academic achievement and promise for career excellence.
👉 Kira Marr

🏆 Karl J. Ammerman Prize Awarded to the “most deserving student” in the department, selected by the ME faculty.
👉 Owen Paschke

🏆 Professor Jeff Helm Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Award For excellence in the implementation of the engineering design process.
👉 Allison Overholt

🏆 Mechanical Engineering Faculty Award Awarded to an outstanding citizen of our department.
👉 Chris Allen

🏆 Mechanical Engineering Student Award Awarded to an outstanding classmate, voted on by the ME Class of 2026.
👉 Peter Curtis

🏆 Mechanical Engineering Thesis Award For outstanding accomplishment on a senior thesis.
👉 Ajani Martin (not pictured, but thoroughly celebrated!)

Congratulations, Class of 2026! We're so proud of our leopards! 🎉🐆✨

ECE seniors shared their Senior Design presentations before graduation. Highlights included a robot designed to tour the 4th floor and a robot capable of carrying items up and down stairs.

From late nights in the lab to working prototypes, these students are proving that the next generation of engineers is ready to solve real-world problems. Huge congratulations to all of our seniors! 🎓👏

Lafayette's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department celebrated the induction of its seniors into the Order of the Engineer. Congratulations to all!

What’s next for Grace Trautwein '26? ✨ The Integrative engineering major with an environment and energy concentration, and a mathematics minor will be attending Stanford University to pursue her master’s in environmental engineering. 🎓 Congratulations Grace!

What's next for the Class of 2026: Grace Trautwein The opportunity to conduct research as undergraduates inspired her next steps and shaped her future

What's next for Owen Paschke '26? ✨ The mechanical engineer will head to an engineering rotation program at Williams International in Detroit, a manufacturer of small jet engines for passenger aircraft. 🎓 Congratulations Owen!

Whats next for the Class of 2026: Owen Paschke Owen Paschke ’26 will head to an engineering rotation program at Williams International in Detroit