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K-State Today

September 10, 2012

Interest in construction career helps senior earn $5,000 scholarship from steel construction institute

Submitted by Communications and Marketing

Kansas State University's Evan Myers, senior in architectural engineering, Salina, has received a $5,000 American Institute of Steel Construction Education Foundation Scholarship. It was one of nine awarded by the foundation for the 2012-2013 school year.

Havens Steel Company created the scholarship that Myers received in honor of Fred R. Havens. The American Institute of Steel Construction, or AISC, is headquartered in Chicago and is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry in the United States.

It's the second year in a row that a Kansas State University student has received the Havens scholarship, which is open to full-time students in civil or architectural engineering and who are enrolled in an accredited U.S. university program. Students must be undergraduate juniors, seniors or graduate students interested in structural engineering and construction.

"I applied for the AISC scholarship because I enjoy designing steel structures and saw this as a great opportunity to apply for a high caliber scholarship from our industry," Myers said.

Classes and internships have helped Myers confirm his career choice as a structural engineer. Along with excelling in the classroom, he serves as president of the Structural Engineering Association of Kansas and Missouri, or SEAKM.

"Evan has developed as a student with his understanding of the basic theoretical knowledge and ability to apply it to solve engineering problems, visualizing the full scope of a problem, researching information on various structural topics, and maturity as a student and a person," said Kimberly Kramer, associate professor and director of graduate studies for the department of architectural engineering and construction sciences.

At this year's CANstruction project, a part of the All-University Open House, Myers helped collect more than $2,000 in canned goods that were used to build a replica of the Trump Tower in Chicago.

"I chose architectural engineering because I have always enjoyed every aspect of building and this major allows for an understanding of the building as an entire system and structural engineering," he said.

Active in community service, Myers tutors other students, participates in food drives and does mission work in other countries. A graduate of Salina High School South, he is the son of Kevin and Cheryl Myers.