March 14, 2007 — Kimberly Pacheco, a junior majoring in structural engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has won the top student award from the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC).
Pacheco received the Margaret Narver Memorial Scholarship Award and a $2,500 check for her outstanding work in structural engineering. Students from 11 engineering schools in Southern California competed for the top award, including Caltech, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State L.A., UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge, and UCLA.
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Kimberly Pacheco, co-captain of this year's ASCE Concrete Canoe team, checks hull of the canoe, which is curing for 28 days in the basement of Kaprielian Hall.
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“I’m very honored to have won this scholarship, USC hasn’t won in several years and I’m happy the Trojans are on top again,” said Pacheco at the awards ceremony, which she attended with Najmedin Meshkati, her research professor. “I’m very grateful to all of my civil engineering professors and advisors, and also to John A. Martin & Associates for providing me with an internship that has greatly contributed to my knowledge of civil engineering.”
She said she plans on putting her award toward her education next year.
SEAOCS’s Narver Memorial Scholarship Award requires applicants to submit a resume, two letters of recommendation and a statement of purpose explaining why and how they became interested in engineering, what they have done thus far in the field, what they hope to do in the future, and how they plan to help advance the field. The recipients were chosen based on outstanding scholarship, experience and dedication to the profession.
SEAOCS is a professional organization of civil and structural engineers, including affiliated construction industry members and students. The organization is also a member organization of the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC).
Pacheco is originally from San Luis Obispo, CA, and joined USC in 2004 as a Presidential Scholar, a Viterbi merit researcher and a Viterbi merit scholar. She is the co-captain of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Concrete Canoe team, and vice president and co-social chair of the USC chapter of Associated General Contractors of America.
Pacheco is a Viterbi student ambassador, a member of Chi-Epsilon and Alpha-Lambda-Delta, and a member of the USC water polo team. Currently she is interning at John A. Martin Associates, a leading firm in structural engineering, while she finishes her undergraduate degree.