Bode earns PEC's 2009 Hightower Fellowship

Nebraska Engineering graduate student Thaddeus Bode received the 2009 Hightower Fellowship from the Professional Engineers in Construction (PEC). Bode studies construction engineering at UNL’sCharles W. Durham School of Architectural Engineering & Construction, located at The Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha.

At Durham, Bode was a founding member of the Student Consortium of Specialty Contractors and also developed his interest in sustainable building, especially applied to existing homes (“before it was the cool thing to be into,” he said). Bode also enjoys Building Information Modeling and was a teaching assistant for the Durham School’s new BIM class.

Bode said “you can’t learn everything in a classroom” and has sought real-world experience. As an undergraduate Bode approached Yong Cho, UNL assistant professor of Construction Systems, about helping with a research project for the Nebraska Department of Roads. Now as a graduate student, Bode leads the research project which involves the mitigation of temperature segregation in the hot mix asphalt construction process using non-nuclear sensory devices.

In appreciation for the support he has received at Durham, Bode added that “the best way to say thank you ... is to return the favor by giving time and support to someone else who needs it.” Bode is currently using his know-how to research and design a practical and efficient school to be built half a world away in South Sudan.

For his career, he plans to continue his learning at jobsites and eventually become a project manager, with hopes to oversee his own sustainably-focused construction firm.