Durham School team wins multiple awards at AEI International Student Design Competition
A team of architectural engineering students from the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction took home multiple honors at the recent Architectural Engineering Institute's International Student Design Competition held April 7 in Arlington, Texas.
Nebraska's Team Nexus finished second in Building Integration, the competition's top award, and won in Electrical. The team was also second in Mechanical and Structural competitions. Additionally, the team also was honored for Outstanding Achievement in Innovation for Building Performance Enhancement.
Advised by Clarence Waters, professor in the Durham School, the student team included:
- Isabel Anderson, Team Leader (Integration, Electrical)
- Izzy Brown (Integration, Electrical)
- Emily Ritzdorf (Integration, Electrical)
- Alec Eiseman (Integration, Electrical)
- Caleb Krouse (Integration, Structural)
- Jenna Reynard (Integration, Structural)
- Jackson Cordell (Integration, Mechanical)
- Grace Stirling (Integration, Mechanical)
- Josh Palakapilly (Integration, Mechanical)
George Morcous selected as PCI Fellow
George Morcous, professor in The Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, has been honored by the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute as a PCI Fellow. The award was presented at the annual PCI Convention, held March 1-5 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Morcous was honored for his teaching and research, which focuses on ultra-high-performance concrete, precast concrete bridge systems and connections, and large-diameter prestressing strands.
The PCI Fellow award recognizes an individual who has embraced the values of the Institute and has provided continuous outstanding contributions to the precast concrete industry. Service to the industry may be considered in the areas of education, research, design, marketing, management, or operations. This individual will have also demonstrated exceptional service to PCI.
Durham School Career Fair draws 400+ students, 87 employers

The 2021 Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction Career Fair was a success. Split over two days - Oct. 4 and 5, 2021, at the Scott Conference Center - 87 employers participated in person with more than 240 students visiting the first day and more than 160 visiting on the second day. Another 20 employers participated in the virtual career fair on Oct. 26. The modified format allowed for a lower density of occupants, giving each exhibitor more space and less students waiting in line. Many thanks to the emoployers who exhibited this ear and a special shoutout to the College of Engineering's Engineering Student Services team - especially Emili Jones, Sarah Kavan, Jen Skidmore and Theresa Luensmann) for their work in coordinating and managing this fair.
Bankrate.com lists AE, Construction degrees among most valuable college majors
Recently bankrate.com rated the most valuable college majors in 2021 from reviewing 159 different degrees, and the two that topped that list are offered by the Durham School -Architectural Engineering, and Construction. For this study, Bankrate looked at the median incomes and unemployment rates of American workers based on the subject of their bachelor's degrees. The higher the income level and the lower the unemployment rate, the better.
Four Durham School faculty recognized at College's 2021 Excellence in Research reception

Four Durham School faculty - Josephine Lau, Marc Maguire, Zhigang Shen and David Yuill - were among the faculty who were recognized at the College of Engineering's 2021 Excellence in Research reception.
Durham School student team takes second in ASC Region 4 competition

A team of students from the Durham School took second place in the Commercial 2 Healthcare track at the Associated Schools of Construction Region 4 Student Competition on Oct. 24-26. Congratulations to the students - Jay Davis, Edward Miller, Logan Jacobsen, Terrance Ball, Caden Rimers, and Breson Pillen, and to team mentor Matt Barrows.
Lau's paper selected by Indoor and Built Environment for Open Access

Josephine Lau, associate professor of architectural engineering, had a recent paper – "The Facility Infection Risk Estimator™: A web application tool for comparing indoor risk mitigation strategies by estimating airborne transmission risk" – selected by the journal Indoor and Built Environment to be available by Open Access at no cost. The paper presents the development of a web application that meets two needs created during the COVID-19 pandemic - estimating the existing airborne risk of infection from CARS-CoV-2 in existing facilities and new designs, and estimating and comparing the impacts of engineering and behavioral strategies for reducing the risk.
Alsaleem selected to join UNMC's Center for Intelligent Health Care

Fadi Alsaleem, assistant professor of architectural engineering, has been selected to join the Center for Intelligent Health Care (CIHC) as one of the faculty representing the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Alsaleem is an active researcher in the areas of nonlinear dynamics of MEMS, smart MEMS, IoT, smart building, online monitoring and diagnostics, and Big Data analysis.
Part of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the CIHC draws from all four University of Nebraska campuses, uniting clinicians, clinical informaticists, data scientists, and computer scientists to envision with a goal of enabling the next generation of healthcare in three core areas – good data, good design, and optimization of human and computer cognition.
AE team wins $10,000 prize in NCEES Engineering Education Award competition
A team of Nebraska Architectural Engineering faculty, students and industry professionals earned a $10,000 secondary prize in the 2021 NCEES Engineering Education Award competition. Nebraska teams have won awards in five of the past six competitions - the grand prize in 2016 and 2019, and secondary prizes in 2015, 2018 and 2021.
The Nebraska team included:
Students: Stephanie Ahrens, Noor Albahrani, Juhaina Alnabhani, Ali Al Lawati, Thuraiya Alwashahi, Nicole Aschoff, Richard Branton, Jenny Briggs, Jonathan Brito Mendoza, Meredith Butler, Kevin Chesire, Nathan German, Adam Hansen, Andrew Heithoff, Matt Long, Jacob Marsh, Emily McCann, Colin Miller, Kevin O'Connell, Dalton Rabe, Jonah Sandin, Nathan Schmidt, Mitchael Sieh, Jennifer Solheim, Ryon Sommerer, Kelsey Stithem, Ben Stodola, Samuel Underwood, David Uwinganji Gatete, and Andi Walter
Faculty: Clarence Waters, Ph.D., P.E.; Todd Feldman, S.E.; and Doug Nelsen, P.E.
Professional Engineers: Adam Brumbaugh, P.E.; Shane Cherney, P.E.; Ryan Curtis, P.E.; Darren Dageforde, P.E.; Dan Dellovechio, P.E.; James Dougherty, P.E.; Matt Enstrom, P.E.; Don Foster, P.E.; James Franks, P.E.; Abby Goranson, P.E.; Eric Granzow, P.E.; Sam Haberman, P.E.; Todd Herrmann, P.E.; Trevor Hollins, P.E.; Tyler Hopson, P.E.; Ken Kilzer, S.E.; Eric Kamin, P.E.; Dan Karnes, P.E.; Todd Kielty, P.E.; Tim Koch, P.E.; Brent Kraay, P.E.; Dmitri Lamianski, P.E.; Lisa Lyons, P.E.; Todd Mack, P.E.; David Manley, P.E.; Jake McConnell, S.E.; Tim Morrison, S.E.; Brian Nevole, P.E.; Ron Ostendorf, P.E.; Jenn Puhlman, P.E.; Jake Pulfer, P.E.; Beth Redding, P.E.; Chris Reed, P.E.; Ben Ries, P.E.; Andrew Roche, P.E.; Jason Rohe, P.E.; Cary Schroeder, S.E.; Joe Selzle, P.E.; Alex Skillman, P.E.; Nate Timm, P.E.; Pete Uhing, P.E.; Steve Vo, P.E.; Kevin Wenninghoff, S.E.; Andrew Wilson, P.E.; Josh Wilson, P.E.; James Wingert, S.E.; Tyler Winnike, P.E.; Geof Wright, P.E.; and Mary Wurst, P.E.
Additional participants: Erin Froschheiser, AIA; Bernie Gehrki, AIA; Tim Hemsath, AIA; Sheila Ireland, AIA; Doug Peters, AIA; Andrew Portis, AIA; Stuart Shell, AIA; Jon Bergren, EI; Maggie Hilgenkamp, E.I.; Cody Largent, E.I.; Layne Micek, E.I.; Mark Niechwiadowicz, E.I.; Brendan Walsh, E.I.; Adam Dailey; Michel Mason; Travis Stangl; and Christopher Wozny
AE team places in NCEES Engineering Education Award competition
A team from Nebraska's architectural engineering program earned a $10,000 prize at the 2021 NCEES Engineering Education Award competition.
The team is a collaboration that connects students in the AE program's capstone course – AREN 8030-4040 Interdisciplinary Team Design Project "Team Design" – with industry professionals. Nebraska's Team Design has placed in five of the past six competitions, achieving the grand prize twice (2016, 2019) and secondary prizes in 2015, 2018 and 2021.
The Nebraska AE program is housed in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction.
- Read more about NCEES Education