ASCE Awards Rutgers Student Chapter a 2025 Certificate of Commendation
Rutgers American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter has received a 2025 Certificate of Commendation in recognition of its outstanding activities. According to Leslie Payne, ASCE’s director of student and younger member programs, this is a distinction earned by only the top 5% of all student chapters.
Additionally, Payne notes that the chapter’s accomplishment reflects the hard work of student officers and members, as well as the guidance of faculty advisor Husam Njam, a professor and undergraduate director in the School of Engineering Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE).
Rutgers’ chapter has also been designated a top 2025 Robert Ridgway Finalist, an award that was presented in May to the ASCE’s most outstanding student chapter.
“This outstanding recognition is foremost a recognition of your leadership and engagement with the chapter over many years,” civil and environmental engineering chair Nenad Gucunski writes to Najm.
Modestly, Najm says that “For myself, I’m proud of our students and it keeps me more engaged with and more supportive of their activities. For students, they will also be proud and also feel that the activities they are doing are excellent ones.”
Najm credits the variety and number of its quality activities, as well as its successful recruitment efforts with the chapter’s award-winning recognition.
The approximately 50-student chapter members have, according to Njam, engaged in numerous activities, including visiting a high school engineering fair; organizing a CEE department career fair; organizing mock-up exams for licensing; and organizing multiple field trips.
He reports he presented the ASCE plaque recognizing the chapter’s achievement to the students at a May ASCE Banquet.
