Eset Alemu, P.E., Seattle Public Utilities
2017 Award Recipient
Nominated by the American Society of Civil Engineers
Eset Alemu, P.E., Seattle Public Utilities, has been selected as the recipient of the 2017 Kenneth W. Porter Award in recognition of her many contributions to the education of K-12 students by showing them the exciting opportunities available in engineering. She worked for seven years for several consulting firms as a hydraulic engineer developing management systems for major river basins across the nation. In 2016, she transitioned into the public sector to serve as a project engineer on the Ship Canal Water Quality Program, a $420 million underground storage tunnel project.
She has actively participated in numerous K-12 educational outreach events such as science fairs as well as middle and high school student competitions. As Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Seattle Section K-12 Outreach Program, she organized various educational events, recruited volunteers, and coordinated with local schools to provide resources to create science clubs. She organized various K-12 educational events for ASCE such as the annual Engineering Rocks event at Southcenter Mall, the Puget Sound Engineering Council’s annual engineering fair at the Museum of Flight, and the A-STEM Family Night at Boeing Future of Flight. These events feature popular learning activities such as a shake table where K-12 students get to test structures made of skewers and gumballs, loading pennies on an aluminum bridge, and purifying dirty water with cotton balls and sand. She volunteers with the TechBridge Girl which conducts an after-school program for underserved middle schools and focuses on supplementary science education for girls.
She serves as an outstanding role model for young students who are trying to find a path in STEM education. She motivates others by illuminating the potential to make a social impact as an engineer.