Nicholas Mascitelli CE ’12 Awarded 2012 District Chi Epsilon Scholarship

In recognition of his excellent academic work and his enthusiastic involvement in extracurricular activities, Chi Epsilon National Civil Engineering Honor Society has selected Nicholas Mascitelli CE ’12 to receive the $1,500 Metropolitan District Scholarship for 2012. Mascitelli plans to apply his award to graduate studies in Structural Engineering at Villanova University.

“I feel extremely honored to have received this award. It is one thing to participate in organizations across campus; it is a completely different one to receive recognition for my accomplishments. I have been truly blessed here at Villanova,” he says.

Throughout his undergraduate academic career, Mascitelli developed an interest in “greener” infrastructure materials. In his senior year, he placed third in the American Concrete Institute 2011 Concrete Projects Competition and earned an Undergraduate Student Paper Award from the Engineers Club of Philadelphia for research entitled “Serviceability and Elastic Behavior of Alkali-Activated Fly Ash Concrete.” In this research, he investigated the replacement of Portland cement—the most abundantly used, which yields about 7 percent of all carbon emissions—with 100 percent fly ash. Dr. Joseph Yost, P.E., Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Dr. Aleksandra Radlinska, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, served as faculty advisors.

Outside the classroom, Mascitelli has been involved with organizations across campus, such as Villanova Ice Hockey, along with student chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Concrete Institution, Institute of Transportation Engineers and Chi Epsilon.

According to the organization, Chi Epsilon is dedicated to maintaining and promoting the status of civil engineering as an ideal profession. It was organized to recognize the characteristics of the individual civil engineer deemed to be fundamental to the successful pursuit of an engineering career and to aid in the development of those characteristics in the civil engineering student.