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May
24, 2003, 16S:
Special Commencement Issue
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Bechtel
Achievement Award: Ankur
Luthra , EECS
Bechtel
Engineering Scholarship:
Jengyee Liang, IEOR
Departmental
Citation Winners:
Nathan Huebsch, BioE
Mark Wan, CEE
Peter Chen, EECS
Kenny Kamrin, Eng. Science
Marc Oman, IEOR
Melissa Santala, MSE
Siddharth Patel, ME
Brian Quiter, NE
Other
Departmental Awards
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Photo
by Peg Skorpinski
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Civil and
Environmental Engineering Citation: Mark Wan
While Mark Wan’s engineering focus has centered around the structural
properties of concrete, he believes that engineering is as much about
dealing with people as it is about dealing with buildings and structures.
“Engineering students often get wrapped up with work, but they should
find the time to participate in student groups. Good engineers also need
a firm understanding of people so they can design products to suit their
needs,” says Mark.
Luckily Mark has found a way to combine concrete and people by joining
the Concrete Canoe team. This year will mark the end of one and a half
years on the team, an experience full of long hours, fond memories, and
hard-core competition.
As the structural engineer for the team, Mark helped design the concrete
mix and conducted structural analysis on the boat. He also came up with
an innovative approach to prevent cracks from spreading by adding polymeric
fibers to the concrete mix.
The Concrete Canoe isn’t Mark’s only commitment. He is also
involved in the Californians Class of 2003, the student group responsible
for planning the annual senior week and graduation activities. He is a
member of honor societies Tau Beta Pi and Chi Epsilon, as well as the
Singapore Malaysian Student Association.
After graduation Mark will return to his native Singapore to work for
several years at the country’s Defense Science and Technology Agency
to repay his government for funding his Berkeley education.
He eventually plans to return to Berkeley for graduate school to earn
his master’s in Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials.
Mark picked CEE after attending a high school engineering research program.
He liked the variety of disciplines offered in the major. Variety was
also a factor in choosing Berkeley. He was impressed by the diversity
of the students and faculty.
Professor Gregory Fenves enjoyed having Mark in his class. “Mark
absorbed the information much faster that I could teach it. I could rely
on Mark to ask questions about course information that other students
didn’t even realize was questionable.”
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