UA Little Rock student wins first place in engineering competition

2017 Apr 10

Heather Hightower, a construction management graduate student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, took home first place for the best professional paper and oral presentation during the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Student Conference.

Hightower, president of the UA Little Rock chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, received a $200 cash prize for her 2,000-word paper and presentation on the topic: "Is it ethical for university engineering faculty to teach technical subject matter to engineering students without obtaining professional licensure?"

Students from the university's chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, coached by faculty adviser Nick Jovanovic, competed against 14 college teams from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the society's event on March 31 and April 1 in Memphis.

More than 20 UA Little Rock students competed in six events: concrete canoe, steel bridge, surveying, environmental, ethics paper, and a mystery event.

"The student chapter sent 22 students to the conference, which is a new attendance record for the chapter," Jovanovic said. "The student chapter also made history by taking a concrete canoe for the first time. This was also the first year that the student chapter was able to participate in all six events at the Deep South Conference. Thus, given that UA Little Rock is the newest ASCE student chapter in the conference, this is a fantastic result."