An ASCE “New Face of Civil Engineering” emphasizes the importance of giving back

Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) honors a small, select cohort of young members who have demonstrated leadership skills and dedication to community and industry service — characteristics the group considers vital for the next generation of engineering professionals. Those are the very characteristics that NYU Tandon hopes to instill in its graduates, so it should come as no surprise that Uma Lakshman (‘21) was chosen as one of ASCE’s 2025 “New Faces of Civil Engineering.”

Lakshman, now a roadway designer for the infrastructure engineering firm H&H, credits her time at Tandon for much of her current success.

“The civil engineering program was extremely rigorous, and there were times I struggled,” she admits, “but there were many people I could count on to help. My classmate Lamin Leigh, for example, cheered me on in every class we took together, and it was invaluable to have a male ally in my corner. And I can’t say enough about my amazing professors, from Jose Ulerio, who could always make me laugh even when I felt scared or stressed, to Elena Prassas, who sat with me for hours, even on weekends, when I needed to review coursework. Additionally, Department Chair Magued Iskander always backed me fully. When I served as the chair of ASCE’s Metropolitan Region my senior year and was responsible for planning a conference for several hundred attendees, he helped along the way and even attended himself in a show of support.”

Lakshman — whose professional goal is to design sustainable infrastructure that acknowledges the needs of local communities — is now paying it forward in myriad ways. As president of the New York Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders, she not only volunteers on several international projects, such as designing a new rainwater catchment system for a school in Kenya, but serves as an organizational liaison for the group’s student chapters. “I get to interact with enthusiastic students and hear their perspectives,” she says, “and I consider it a real privilege to be able to mentor them the way I was mentored at Tandon.”

Also a member of the scholarship committee of the Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) Greater New York Chapter, she is especially happy to help uplift other female civil engineers. “As women, we sometimes feel that to fit in, we have to take part in the ‘boys’ club’ culture that still exists in certain workplaces. I was once told by a mentor, though, to start my own club, rather than try to conform. That turned out to be very good advice that I now pass down to my strong, intelligent, and driven mentees.”

Iskander describes Lakshman’s ASCE honor as well-deserved. “Uma was an exceptional student leader, and I am not surprised that she has risen to be a leader in ASCE at large and at Engineers Without Borders,” he says. “She exemplifies the power of an NYU education not only technically, but also in fostering the professional skills required for career success. Uma represents everything we wish for in an NYU Tandon alum. She is a credit to her professors, her alma mater, and our profession as a whole.”