CEE Students Win 2021 NUCEAO Awards

portraits of Missy Muilenburg, BS Environmental Engineering ‘21, Natasha Leipziger Mundis, BS/MS Civil Engineering ’21, and Ryan Kloiber, BS Civil Engineering ’21

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in conjunction with the Northeastern University Civil Engineering Alumni Organization (NUCEAO), is pleased to announce this year’s winners of the NUCEAO Award. The 2021 NUCEAO Award is offered to select students from the graduating class who display academic excellence and leadership. “This award is given to students who do an excellent job in our program and went above and beyond the call in their leadership and activities, and in helping make our department great,” said Jerome F. Hajjar, CDM Smith Professor and Department Chair. The award is chosen by a committee comprising of department faculty and is accompanied by an honorarium. “These are students, not only on whom their peers depend, but on whom the department depends for leadership,” said Teaching Professor and CEE Capstone Director Daniel Dulaski.

The department and alumni recognized three students for the 2021 NUCEAO Award: Missy Muilenburg, BS Environmental Engineering ‘21, Natasha Leipziger Mundis, BS/MS Civil Engineering ’21, and Ryan Kloiber, BS Civil Engineering ’21.

About the Three Awardees

During her time at Northeastern, Muilenburg participated in many of the department’s clubs. She was the President of NEWEA, served as a captain for the Concrete Canoe construction team, and was involved in ASCE and Engineers Without Borders. As a leader in Concrete Canoe, she helped younger students develop. “She doesn’t do any of this stuff for the recognition,” said Associate Co-op Coordinator Jessica Ormsby of Muilenburg’s commitment to student life. “She does it because she wants to give back to other students.” In July she will be starting as an environmental engineer for Roux Associates in Oakland, CA, working on water infrastructure and environmental remediation. “I’m really grateful for the recognition – being part of the Civil department for the last four years has been such a great experience, and I feel lucky to have met so many amazing people as part of it,” said Muilenburg.

Leipziger Mundis served on the department’s Steel Bridge team twice, participating as Captain of the build team her senior year. In addition to participation in Engineers Without Borders, she was deeply involved in university initiatives, including as a Husky Ambassador and tour guide, an RA for the Women in Engineering LLC dormitory, and as an NUin Alumni Ambassador. “Since her freshman year, Natasha has worked on my research team in the STReSS Lab, where she has shown talent and passion for structural engineering,” said Hajjar. She pursued a rigorous academic program, completing a BS/MS with concentration in structures, and received a scholarship from the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute. “This award serves as my first introduction to NUCEAO, and I’m honored to have received the award and to have attended the annual event,” said Leipziger-Mundis. “I’m excited to stay involved in NUCEAO and meet more fellow alumni!” She began work as a structural engineer at LeMessurier following graduation.

As a student, Ryan Kloiber was involved in Pep Band, Chi Epsilon and Tau Beta Pi, and ASCE. He has been involved with Concrete Canoe for much of his time at Northeastern, and came up through its ranks to become the captain of the group. He carried those skills as a leader through into his academic work, serving as the project manager for his transportation Capstone team. “All around, Ryan is someone who steps up to take responsibility, take initiative, and is not afraid to take on a new role,” said Dulaski. He recently began work as an engineer for Environmental Partners’ transportation team in Quincy, MA. “I am grateful to receive this award. I felt I was able to leave my mark on the department not only academically, but through involvement in student groups as well,” Kloiber said. “This award is a nice recognition of this involvement.”

The NUCEAO Award is supported in part through generous donations from Northeastern CEE alumni. Each year, NUCEAO hosts an alumni dinner to bring together students, faculty, alumni, and industry leaders to celebrate awards and achievements of current and past CEE Huskies.

Related Faculty: Jerome F. Hajjar, Daniel M. Dulaski, Jessica Ormsby

Related Departments:Civil & Environmental Engineering