Carnegie Mellon University

Professor and Department Head Dave Dzombak with Kelby Kramer

February 25, 2022

Kramer Awarded American Bridge Leadership Award

CEE/EPP Senior Kelby Kramer was recently awarded the  American Bridge Leadership Award by The Pittsburgh Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in recognition of his leadership accomplishments and community impact. 

Kramer has distinguished himself not only academically but also as a leader among his peers.  He routinely spends time during lab sessions helping his peers work through difficulties they were encountering on the assigned problems and stepping up as a leader in group assignments.  

“Kelby is the kind of student who week in and week out elevates classroom discussions with thoughtful questions, intellectual energy, and effusive engagement,” says professor Jerry Wang.

Kramer worked on a research project for professor Wang which focused on using particle-based simulation methods to assess the impact of social distancing in pedestrian flows. As a result, he wrote a paper and later presented his findings at the Division of Fluid Dynamics Conference organized by the American Physical Society (APS) in November 2020. 

“This level of research accomplishment, in under a year of effort, would be commendable for a PhD student; it is altogether astonishing for an undergraduate,” says Wang.

He has served as captain of the university’s water polo team and president of the Chi Epsilon honor society. He is an active member of the student chapter of ASCE, served as a student representative for the CMU Alumni Association Board, and was a team build design lead for Engineers Without Borders. 

The Bridge Award is a highly competitive award open to all civil engineering students in the region covered by the ASCE Pittsburgh Section, and includes a cash prize.