RESTON, Va. — The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has announced the 2025 New Faces of Civil Engineering in the Collegiate category. The New Faces of Civil Engineering program highlights and celebrates up-and-coming civil engineering students' academic and professional achievements. The New Faces honorees will be recognized during ASCE’s Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Gala in October, which will be held in conjunction with the 2025 ASCE Convention in Seattle.

“The next generation of civil engineers will design and operate infrastructure systems that will withstand new challenges and integrate new technology,” said ASCE Executive Director Tom Smith. “The leadership demonstrated by the students recognized as ASCE’s 2025 Collegiate New Faces of Civil Engineering shows the future of the profession is bright, and I look forward to seeing what they achieve in the decades ahead.”

The 2025 New Faces of Civil Engineering in the Collegiate category are:

  • Giselle Alas: A third-year student at the University of Virginia, Giselle Alas focuses on construction engineering and management with an eye toward earning an MBA. Her fascination with design and construction was sparked by helping translate blueprints her father used in his work as a building painter. She’s involved with UVA’s concrete canoe team, where she helped develop and implement a mentoring system that has built continuity as new students join the team.
  • Maryam Alrefaei: A fifth-year student at Kuwait University, Maryam Alrefaei sees vast potential in this career in a country where a great number of people in high-level leadership positions are engineers. She credits her involvement with her ASCE student chapter as a springboard to her academic success. She previously served as the chapter’s vice president.
  • Luke Brumback: Growing up on a farm inspired Luke Brumback, a fourth-year student at West Virginia University, to major in civil engineering, focusing on soil science. He saw firsthand the damage caused by soil erosion, making him passionate about conservation. Brumback has held leadership positions on WVU’s concrete canoe and steel bridge teams and says his ASCE experience has helped him develop communication, networking, and critical thinking skills.
  • Jack Bussiere: A third-year student at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Jack Bussiere says his time with ASCE’s student chapter has been the driving force in his academic and professional success. He’s the president of his student chapter and serves on the ASCE National Student Presidential Group. Bussiere looks forward to advancing the profession in his civil engineering career.
  • Jonathan Liu: Seeing the effects Hurricane Sandy had on his New Jersey neighborhood as an elementary school student helped lead Jonathan Liu, a fourth-year student at Rutgers University, to civil engineering. He views the profession as an opportunity to give back to people and their communities. Liu has served as his chapter’s vice president and hopes to inspire underclassmen to engage with ASCE.
  • Raissa Natacha Ineza: Raissa Natacha Ineza was born and raised in Rwanda and saw how infrastructure greatly affects the quality of life. She witnessed how storms damaged or destroyed infrastructure and was inspired to become a civil engineer to help design systems that can protect people and property. She’s a fourth-year student at Minnesota State University and is pursuing a degree focused on structural and transportation engineering.
  • Nicklas Schmidt-Bailey: A fourth-year student at Seattle University, Nicklas Schmidt-Bailey helped revive the school’s ASCE chapter after almost all its officers graduated. He quickly rose to the role of chapter vice president and is currently the chapter president where he works to create a more inclusive and welcoming community. Schmidt-Bailey says that seeing the bridges and skyscrapers of Chicago as a child inspired him to pursue a career in civil engineering. After graduating, he will seek an advanced degree in geotechnical engineering.
  • Frederick Smith IV: Frederick Smith, IV, a third-year student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, grew up spending summers at his family’s construction company which supplied aggregate to local communities. He says WPI’s ASCE chapter provides a community that values collaboration, diversity, and growth through activities like steel bridge and concrete canoe. He plans to pursue a career in structural engineering.
  • Ritika Talwar: A fifth-year student at CUNY New York City College of Technology, Ritika Talwar helped revive the school’s ASCE chapter and has served as its president for the last two years. She’s interned with the New York City Department of Design and Construction and says her experience working on a project to demolish dated jail facilities affirmed her intention to focus on a career in construction.
  • Yonacary Wingard: A fourth-year student at Florida International University, Yonacary “Cary” Wingard is also pursuing an accelerated master’s program in structural engineering, which she began this spring. She has held several leadership roles with FIU’s ASCE chapter, including serving as vice president and leading the concrete canoe team. Wingard says the environmental and infrastructure challenges she witnessed growing up in Venezuela inspired her to become an engineer. She plans to begin her career as a project manager with a Florida construction firm after she graduates.

For media availability and interviews with the 2025 New Faces of Civil Engineering, please contact ASCE Media Relations.

About the American Society of Civil Engineers

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 160,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.