Civil engineering student chapter wins national community service award
10/5/2015
By Jennifer Swales
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently won the ASCE 2015 Richard J. Scranton Outstanding Community Service Award for their efforts with Bridges to Prosperity.
Bridges to Prosperity partners with other organizations and professionals to provide access to health care, education and markets by teaching communities how to build footbridges over impassable rivers.
Penn State’s Bridges to Prosperity student chapter, which was founded in 2013, has spent the last two years traveling to rural communities in Panama to educate residents and assist in the construction of pedestrian footbridges.
Their most recent trip in June was to the remote village of Tucuecito, Panama.
“Bridges to Prosperity teaches students how to work in teams and with people of different cultures,” said Thomas Skibinski, civil engineering lecturer. “It is a great experience for the students, the citizens of the Panamanian community, and the faculty and staff who travel with the students.”
The Richard J. Scranton Outstanding Community Service Award recognizes the student chapter that demonstrates the most outstanding record of service for the previous calendar year.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Jennifer Matthews
jas6149@engr.psu.edu
From left: Christopher W. Smith (President, ASCE Central Pennsylvania), Drew Chidester (Penn State Student ASCE President), Sam Carrol (Penn State Student ASCE Treasurer), and Brittany Bolmer (Penn State Student ASCE Secretary)
