DFI Educational Trust Awards Scholarship Funds to 32 Students Pursuing Careers in Deep Foundations

September 4, 2024, Hawthorne, N.J.:

The DFI Educational Trust awarded $102,000 in scholarships this spring to 32 exceptional students preparing for a career in the civil engineering and construction fields. More scholarships will be awarded in the fall, thanks to the generosity of many donors and fundraising event participants and sponsors.

Since 2006, the Trust has awarded $2.2 million in scholarships and grants to more than 550 recipients at nearly 100 educational institutions. The high rate at which scholarship applicants and awardees enter, stay and advance in the industry speaks volumes to the Trust’s positive impact.

The awards were provided from the following DFI Educational Trust Scholarship funds:

Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship Fund (BERKEL)
DFI Educational Trust General Scholarship Fund (GENERAL)
Francis Gularte Scholarship Fund (GULARTE)
Clyde N. Baker, Jr. Foundation Engineering Scholarship Fund (BAKER)
Thomas Wysockey Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund (WYSOCKEY)
John O’Malley Scholarship Fund (O’MALLEY)
Fred H. Kulhawy Memorial Scholarship Fund (KULHAWY)
Goble Rausche Likins Scholarship Fund (GRL)
Terracon Consultants Scholarship Fund (TERRACON)
Michael L. Condon Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund (CONDON)

Following are the recent scholarship recipients:

Bryan Amado Rojas, senior at University of California, Berkeley, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL
Luan Bui, junior at California State University, Long Beach, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL
Aidan Cadogan, graduate student at University of Maine, awarded a total of $2,000 from O’MALLEY
Malu Castex, sophomore at San Diego State University, awarded a total of $5,000 from GRL
Ali Doostvandi, graduate student at Texas A&M University, awarded a total of $2,500 from GRL
Matthew Flores, junior at Iowa State University of Science and Technology, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL
Julie Garry, senior at Stevens Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL
Aavash Ghimire, graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, awarded a total of $2,000 from TERRACON
Matthew Griffiths, senior at Pennsylvania State University, awarded a total of $3,000 from BERKEL
Benyamin Jalilnavaznovin, graduate student at Portland State University, awarded a total of $4,000 from GENERAL
Neda Jamaleddin, graduate student from North Carolina State University, awarded a total of $2,000 from O’MALLEY
Yogesh Joshi, graduate student at Pennsylvania State University – Penn State Harrisburg, awarded a total of $2,500 from GULARTE
Hyeon Jung Kim, graduate student at University of California, Davis, awarded a total of $4,000 from CONDON
Veronica Kiuna, graduate student at Iowa State University, awarded a total of $4,000 from GENERAL
Tyler Kleinsasser, graduate student at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, awarded a total of $1,000 from KULHAWY
Khac Le, graduate student at Polytechnic State University, Pomona, awarded a total of $4,000 from CONDON
Emily Leane, sophomore at Santa Clara University, awarded a total of $2,500 from O’MALLEY
Sebastian Lopez, junior at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL
Lukas Maurer, sophomore at Virginia Military Institute, awarded a total of $5,000 from WYSOCKEY
Guadalupe Mendoza, junior at Texas Tech University, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL
Thomas Morrison, graduate student at The Citadel, awarded a total of $5,000 from WYSOCKEY
Zulkar Nain, graduate student at Texas A&M University, awarded a total of $5,000 from BAKER
Kristo Nasto, senior at Rochester Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $5,000 from BERKEL
Giulio Rasi, sophomore at Rochester Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $3,000 from BERKEL
Saad Rehmatullah, junior at New Jersey Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $5,000 from BERKEL
JoAnna Shafer, junior at The University of Akron, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL
William Shaffer, graduate student at University of California, Irvine, awarded a total of $5,000 from GENERAL
Saad Allah Solh, graduate student at Virginia Tech, awarded a total of $4,000 from CONDON
Ali Sozen, junior at Rutgers University, awarded a total of $2,000 from BERKEL
Robert Stepien, senior at Stevens Institute of Technology, awarded a total of $3,000 from BERKEL
Alicia Walburger, graduate student at Brigham Young University, awarded a total of $5,000 from WYSOCKEY
Ziyi Wang, graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, awarded a total of $2,500 from GULARTE

To support students who may be your future employees, consider donating to one of the DFI Educational Trust scholarship funds at www.trust.dfi.org/donate.