Rogelio加西亚 ’21 graduated from 博彩平台网址大全 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, 在一家知名公司工作, and a prestigious and unprecedented award: co-recipient of the California Civil Engineering Student of the Year.

来自 美国土木工程师学会(ASCE) is summed up by Pacific Professor and Chair of the 土木工程部 Camilla Saviz: “This is a very, very big deal. He is the first student we have had to receive this particular honor.”

The ASCE awards are broken down into 10 regions. Garcia was honored in Region 9, which is the state of California. 加西亚必须升到估计的18分以上,000 students from 25 California universities or colleges including University of California’s Berkeley and Davis campuses, 斯坦福大学, 以及其他许多公立和私立学校. Matthew Jacobson of Cal Poly Pomona was the other recipient.

“我没想到它是诚实的. When I received the email that I was a recipient I was shocked. It is such a huge award,” said Garcia, from Manteca. “I knew that I had won the Sacramento section, which by itself was a great accomplishment. But to win the region award … I am just very grateful.”

Garcia’s honor is a recognition of his body of work, 考虑到学术, 工作经验, 领导, extracurricular activities and other aspects of a civil engineering education.

“Rogelio has done well academically and is an actively engaged student. He works well with other students in lab and workshops,” Associate Professor Mary Kay Camarillo wrote in a nomination letter. “在教室外面, Rogelio has taken on 领导 roles … He demonstrates abilities, dedication to service and aptitude for the civil engineering profession.”

Garcia was drawn to civil engineering at an early age, prompted by work with an uncle’s landscaping business.

“我做过小型建筑项目. Basically, I liked conceptualizing and building things from the ground up. I started thinking about what careers would involve math and science and basically constructing things,他说.

Saviz说 civil engineering was the perfect field of education for someone with Garcia’s attributes.

“土木工程师为社会服务. They create infrastructure that enhances the quality of life—clean water, 道路, 桥梁, 建筑, 交通系统. Civil engineers are the people who make these things work. Rogelio fits that description perfectly,” Saviz说.

Garcia said he started college as an introvert. He had to become comfortable working with others. 最终, Saviz说, Garcia became an “extremely strong leader in the classroom and with ASCE and other groups.”

One ASCE project involved students building—and flying—a concrete Frisbee. 加西亚的小组赢得了比赛.

“We had to build it so it was as light as possible,加西亚说. “You could not use steel or a lot of other objects. So we had to be creative and used a window screen and Styrofoam as our rebar. It held together and only chipped in a couple of places. 这是一场有趣的比赛.”

加西亚已经接受了 工程与计算机科学学院’s Cooperative Education program. The experience he gained in co-op work with San Joaquin County and for construction company Clark Pacific was the perfect complement to his classroom and lab work, 他说.

“The work with San Joaquin County was very rewarding, and it’s fun to drive on 道路 or 桥梁 that I worked on,他说. “You also tend to see other projects that you were not involved in and say, ‘I could build that better’ or ‘they should have done this or that.“这只是土木工程师的习惯.”

With Clark Pacific, he had the opportunity to work on Google’s new Bay View headquarters.

“对我来说，这是一块垫脚石. That was the first project I was involved with for Clark Pacific. It broadened my perspective of engineering,加西亚说. “我的意思是，这是谷歌，这是一家大公司. 我参与了括号的创建. I had to do the calculations and all of the analysis. It was a big deal because I was involved in everything from design to testing. It was a great experience—scary at first, but everything worked out.”

Garcia will begin a job with Clark Pacific in July. He was recruited by former Pacific assistant dean Gary Martin, 谁现在在伍德兰的公司.

他在博彩平台网址大全的最后一年“充满挑战”,加西亚说, but he has admiration for the job done by professors to help overcome challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think the professors did a great job of accommodating. At the end of the day, I did not feel like I got any less of an education. But it was just more challenging on the students and the professors. 这肯定是可行的.

“And I am pleased that more opportunities are opening for students of color and women in engineering and other science fields. 这是我们学校的首要任务. The Pacific experience was the right one for me.”