DBIANW is pleased to announce the student scholarship winners for the 2019/2020 school year. These deserving students are in good academic standing and have displayed a commitment to learning and applying design-build best practices in their education. This year’s recipients are Renata Popov, Tam Ngugen, Gunnar Merkel, and Martin Macedo.
Renata Popov, University of Washington, Construction Management
Renata Popov is a full-time student at the University of Washington Construction Management program and an intern for Lease Crutcher Lewis, for whom she has the privilege of working in a collaborative design-build environment.
Renata keeps herself busy by acting as president of the ACI Student Chapter and vice president of the AGC Student Chapter, creating opportunities for students to explore the Seattle construction industry. She is also captain of the ASC Student Competition Commercial team and a member of the NECA Green Building Challenge team. Whenever she catches a break, Renata likes to play guitar, cook, and enjoy a good session of dungeons and dragons with her friends.
Tam Nguyen, University of Washington, Architectural Design, Construction Management
Tam Nguyen was born and raised in Vietnam. In 2012 after Tam completed high school, he and his parents immigrated to the US. After earning his AA degree at Highline College, Tam transferred to the University of Washington where he is earning dual degrees in the Architectural Design and Construction Management programs.
Tam was part of the design-build studio that designed and built a small project for Nathan Hale High School Urban Farm and this summer, he will intern for Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction in San Francisco CA. Â There Tam will have the opportunity to gain real-world construction management experience. Tam will graduate in 2020 and intends to work for a design-build company where he can apply his education.
Gunnar Merkel, Washington State University, Construction Management
Gunnar Merkel has been involved with the DBIA organization for about four years. In his fifth year of the construction management program at WSU, Gunnar will become President of the DBIA student chapter beginning this fall.
Gunnar began an internship with Bouten Construction of Spokane, WA last summer and continued his internship through the last school year working for them on a design-build project located on the WSU campus. Gunnar has committed to Bouten once he graduates.
Martin Macedo, Montana State, Construction Engineering Technology
Just having graduated from high school, Martin Macedo will be heading to Montana State University, Bozeman, MT in the fall to take part in their Construction Engineering Technology program. Martin was awarded this DBIA-funded scholarship award through the ACE Mentor program.