Construction Management Association of America honors students, faculty, and alumni
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The Chicago chapter of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) board honored several people from UIC’s Department of Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering during its recent CMAA Project Awards and Scholarship Luncheon.
Undergraduate student Salome Diaz-Rojas and MS student Aaliyan Khan received prestigious scholarships that will help them during their academic journey.
“The scholarship allowed me to take classes this summer to not only stay on track with my graduation and career plans, but to get ahead,” Diaz-Rojas said.
In addition to scholarships, CMAA provides students with opportunities to grow and build on the skills they are learning at UIC through professional networking, industry events and speaker series, career and internship opportunities, scholarships, and professional licensing.
“CMAA helps me learn about all the different paths, types, and people in construction. It allows me to learn networking and communication skills that are valuable skills outside of the educational atmosphere,” Diaz-Rojas said.
The students were not the only UIC people celebrated at the event. Hossein Ataei, director of the Construction Engineering and Management Program, clinical professor and director of undergraduate studies, and alumnus Ibrahim Osman received Faculty Appreciation and Recognition Awards for their leadership in construction engineering and management education in the greater Chicago region, fostering academic-industry partnerships, and for their contributions to the profession.
Osman is an assistant vice president with Bowman Consulting and an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He earned his PhD at UIC, working with Ataei on construction claims. He has decades of professional experience managing infrastructure projects in transportation and heavy construction sectors across many countries with multiple firms.
“We are grateful to CMAA Chicago and their amazing executive board for supporting our students with many scholarships and professional opportunities since we established the construction engineering and management program at UIC,” Ataei said. “They value the skills and expertise that we provide our students with in our program for their successful post-graduation industry careers and integration into the leadership roles within the profession.”