• Site map
• About us
• K-State photo services
• Stock photos
• Inclement weather policy

 

 

Join us on facebook

 

 

Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: Samantha Butler, sbutler@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-6415, bbohn@k-state.edu

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

K-STATE ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING STUDENT FROM TOWANDA WINS NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP

MANHATTAN -- Samantha Butler, a senior in architectural engineering at Kansas State University, has received the 2008 American Institute of Steel Construction/Fred R. Havens Fellowship.

The $5,000 fellowship is awarded annually to a civil or architectural engineering undergraduate or graduate student at universities in Kansas, Missouri or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Applicants for the fellowship are judged on academic performance and faculty recommendations, as well as papers they write about their interest in engineering or constructing steel structures, and an original sample steel design analysis/design solution.

Butler, Towanda, has been active with several of her college's student organizations, including serving as president of the College of Engineering Ambassadors; events coordinator of the K-State student chapter of the Structural Engineering Association of Kansas and Missouri; as a mentor to young female students in engineering as part of Women Mentoring Women through K-State's Women in Engineering and Science Program; and a member of Phi Alpha Epsilon, the senior honorary for architectural engineering.

Butler was encouraged to apply for the fellowship by Sutton Stephens, associate professor of architectural engineering and construction science at K-State.

"I provided an essay on my interest in steel construction and an original steel design," Butler said. "For my steel design, I chose a floor system for a typical office building. The design was limited to two pages, so it was incomplete, but demonstrated a knowledge of steel design.

"My essay focused on my hope to use steel as a recyclable material for structures in an effort to bring sustainability to structural designs and also seismic design with steel structures. These are both areas I hope to work in during my future career."

Butler, who will start her graduate studies in the fall at K-State, plans to graduate in May 2010 with an integrated bachelor of science-master of science degree through the College of Engineering. She wants to then enter the structural consulting field, with an emphasis on seismic design.

"While I don't have a specific area of the country picked out, my field of interest will likely land me somewhere along the Pacific Coast or near the St. Louis, Mo., area, which are the two more active seismic areas of the United States," she said.

Butler is the daughter of Harris "Bo" and Rita Butler, Towanda, and a 2004 graduate of Circle High School.