Two RCEAS undergraduates receive
scholar awards from University Women’s Club

Two undergraduate women engineering majors have received Scholar Awards from the Lehigh University Women’s Club for scholarship, leadership and community service.

Irene LaBarca ‘04, who majors in civil engineering, was chosen from the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Debarati Chattopadhyay ‘04, an arts-engineering dual-degree major, was chosen from among science majors in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chattopadhyay is pursuing B.S. degrees in astrophysics and in computer engineering.

LaBarca is president of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honorary society, and president of the Lehigh Philharmonic Orchestra, for which she plays viola. This summer she will work in the ATLSS (Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems) Research Center’s Undergraduate Research Program on a project involving seismic guidelines for deep structural columns.

“I originally chose to come to Lehigh because of its renowned civil engineering department and structural testing facilities,” says LaBarca. “I’ve found that Lehigh has offered me many opportunities both in academics and in extracurricular activities – a combination I think is difficult to find at other universities. The course load is rigorous, but I find that, in general, professors really care about students learning the material and are always willing to help us meet our goals.”

LaBarca, who plans to pursue an M.S. in civil engineering as a Presidential Scholar, last year completed an independent research project in which she investigated a method to make Lehigh a pedestrian-only campus.

“That was a great opportunity to practice writing a detailed technical report and giving a presentation. I had the full support of the department.”

Chattopadhyay is vice president of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honorary society, and cultural vice president of the Indian Students Association, for which she directs the Diwali show each fall.

Chattopadhyay also works with the Lehigh Space Observatory project, in which engineering and physics students, and physics professors, are building a full-scale astronomical observatory on the Lehigh campus.

“The engineering program at Lehigh a very rigorous program and definitely challenging,” says Chattopadhyay. “The professors I had during my sophomore year, when I took my first classes in my major, were amazing. I had been unsure about whether computer engineering was the right engineering major for me, and they were instrumental in getting me really interested in the subject.”

The other students to receive scholar awards from the Women’s Club were Emily Henderson, a history major who was chosen from among arts majors in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Heather Majczan, a finance major, who was chosen from the College of Business and Economics.

A total of 24 women were nominated for the four awards, which were given out at the Women’s Club’s annual luncheon in April.