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Brandon Simms '10
Hackerman Scholar (Baltimore Scholar)
Brandon Simms juggles a variety of activities at Hopkins. In addition to his course load, he has been a mentor in several diversity groups on campus (including S.E.E.D. and Student Success Series), been heavily involved with the JHU Gospel Choir, and is president of two major organizations on campus.
As President of the National Society of Black Engineers, he heads a group dedicated to increasing the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community.
Brandon is also the 2009 manager for Hopkins Student Storage, which is a budding hopkins student enterprise helping students store belongings in the summers and between move-ins.
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Katherine Acton PhD ‘09
Graduate Student
“I realized that I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I could get into something where my [math] degree could be physically applied.”
Katherine Acton took an unusual route to obtaining her MSE in Civil Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. As an undergraduate, she majored in English (her honors thesis was in creative writing) and also mathematics.
A Baltimore-area native, she returned to Baltimore after her undergraduate career, and decided to enroll in the Engineering and Applied Science Programs for Professionals (EPP) at Johns Hopkins. In addition to her coursework, Katherine took on work as an on-site supervisor for a major construction contracting company. “A lot of people questioned what I knew,” she recalls, “So I had to work on developing my sense of self-confidence. I found that often it’s not so much what you know or say, but how you say it that matters.” Under Professor Lori Graham-Brady, Acton became a full-time researcher in 2003, working with material properties of functionally graded materials, which are composites that have gradations of two or more materials. Acton will continue on her way towards her doctorate in civil engineering at Johns Hopkins, and she also plans to someday obtain an MFA in creative writing.
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Benjamin Frison BS '10
Westgate Scholar
“Your world becomes redefined when you study civil engineering. Every time I go over a bridge, pass the construction of a large building, or visit an old church in Europe, things are much more interesting now that I understand the principles about why they don't fall down.”
Benjamin Frison agrees that the civil engineers at JHU have the advantage of seeing with the naked eye what they are researching with, sometimes on very large scales. Involved with Engineers Without Borders, he traveled with a small assessment team to Ecuador for an intense 20-day exploration of the infrastructure in the area. Now he's focusing on intense research in the department. “I have found the civil engineering department at Hopkins to be, without a doubt, a perfect blend of hot-shot, highly theoretical research and hard-hat field work.”
In addition to civil engineering work, Ben spends his time with the breakdancing group on campus, sometimes practicing 5 hours a day. Recently he was an emcee for a Johns Hopkins breakdance “battle,” bringing together breakdancers from all over the East Coast to compete.
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Leah Zambetti BS '10
Construction Intern at Bovis Lend Lease
“I love pretty much everything construction – the noise, the problem solving, the team atmosphere…the list goes on.”
Leah Zambetti wants to have both a very technical and very people-oriented career in civil engineering. This influenced her to work 12-week internships her freshman and sophomore summers for Bovis Lend Lease, a construction company in New York. Leah supervised the logistics officers and the on-site supervisor. “I did a lot of work with the Project Manager by writing and organizing bids, change orders, and contracts, doing some accounting work, and sitting in on meetings. I also worked closely with the Super by walking around the site with him, doing punch lists, and communicating with the tradesmen.”
Outside of her tight-knit community of civil engineering friends, being in the Alpha Phi sorority on campus has completed her experience at Hopkins, allowing her to meet new people, get creative planning a variety of events, and give back to the local community. “If not for the Alpha Phi activities we have throughout the school year, I may have never met many of the girls I consider my closest friends – that includes my very own big!”
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