Petition

The petition for Chapter Charter of Tau Chi Alpha (TXA), the National Environmental Engineering Honorary, was approved on the 10th of May, 2000, by the National Councilors.

The Petition Team was formed by Layla L. Llewelyn (Team Leader), Eric Burroughs and Maurice Berkel. Their enthusiasm and dedication resulted in a proposal whose excellent quality impressed the Councilors. Florida International University thus hosts Chapter 2 of TXA in the nation.

We thank all faculty members, administrators, and staff, who timely helped us with the petition and thanks to the environmental engineering faculty for providing required information. We also express our sincere appreciation to Drs. Zhao (Chi Epsilon Faculty Advisor) and Gomez (ASCE Faculty Advisor) for their kind letters of support and assistance to our students.

Installation & Headquarters

The FIU Chapter of TXA is headquartered at the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, but its mission extends to all engineering disciplines that apply knowledge towards problem solving in environmental engineering. Undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, and faculty, who meet established criteria of distinction, may be invited for induction in TXA.

On February 2, 2002, the second chapter of TXA was officially established by the National President, Dr. Robert Sharp, and the Executive Secretary, William C. Anderson. Thirty-three distinguished students, including three faculty members, were also inducted that day. The ceremony took place at the AT-100 auditorium that is located in front of the south entrance to the Green Library at the University Park campus.

Objective

The objective of TXA is to advance the environmental engineering profession by identifying and placing a mark of distinction on those environmental engineering students and engineers who have demonstrated high scholastic achievement, ethical character, practicality, and sociability or significant achievement in environmental engineering profession. 

Inductions

The 2002-03 officers of the TXA FIU Chapter were: Layla L. Llewelyn (President), Jacquelyn J. Elmaleh (Vice-President), Hans Murzi (Marshall), Carmen Bermudez (Secretary), and Liset Milian (Treasurer). Under the leadership of Layla and Jacquie, the Chapter conducted a series of distinguished lectures on various South Florida environmental priorities. We thanked all of them for their great dedication and contributions made to the intellectual advancement of the TXA members and University community at large.    

On the 11th of April of 2003, a new group of undergraduate and graduate students were inducted into the Honorary. The ceremony took place at the FIU Engineering Center EC 2300. On the same day, the 2003-04 officers were officially installed; they were: Justin T. L. Leung (President), Chireuy Chen (Vice President), Robert J. Ross (Secretary/Treasurer), and Irena Calante (Marshall).

On the 27th of February of 2004, the third induction ceremony was held at the FIU Engineering Center EC 3665. The following officers were installed that day: Justin T. L. Leung (continued as President), Wisler Pierre-Louis (Vice President), Andrea M. Suarez (Secretary/Treasurer), and Robert J. Ross (Marshall).

On February 23, 2007, the 2007-08 roster of officers of the TXA FIU Chapter was officially installed in an special event held at the Miccosukee Resort and Gaming in Miami, Florida. New officers were Joan I. Fernandez (President), Mehrnoosh Mahmoudi (Vice-President), Aylin Costa (Secretary), Ana M. Arana (Treasurer) and Brandy I. Creed (Marshall). We thank you all for the willingness to serve in such leadership capacity and wish you all very well! Keynote Speakers were Ghislaine Carr from Hazen & Sawyer and Jill Quigley from Carter & Burgess. They presented their perspective about sustainable development needs and priority issues in South Florida. We want to acknowledge and express our most sincere thanks to our environmental engineering sponsors Hazen & Sawyer, Carter :: Burgess and Chen & Associates.

In Spring 2008, the Initiation Ceremony was held at EC 2300 of the FIU Engineering Center. The ceremony was called to order by Faculty Advisor & Professor Fuentes. The initiation of new members was followed by the installation of the 2008-09 officers under the direction of Aylin Costa and Brandy Creed. The 2008-09 officers are: Aylin Costa, E.I. (President), Mehrnoosh Mahmoudi (Vice-President), Jairo D. Crespo (Secretary), Mandar S. Zope (Treasurer), and Bryant M  Alvarado (Marshall). Thank you to the 2007-08 officers for their hard work and for bringing the first 2007 AAEE Kappe Lecturer to South Florida for the first time. Congratulations to all the 2008-09 officers. We wish you well in all your endeavors.

Inductees

Year 2002 (February 2, 2002 - Inaugural Ceremony):

Carmen Alicia Aponte, Carmen Maria Bermudez, Irina Calante, Jacquelyn J. Caro, Carlos J. Castro, Chiruey Chen, Carlos E. Chirivi, Elizabeth Ann Debiak, Jacques Defrant, George W. DiCarlo, Rodlin Dorvil, Nahum de Jesus Fernandez, Dr. Hector R. Fuentes, Allen Trafton Green, Teresita C. Harper, Jiun-Jia Hsu, Guillermo Irigoyen, Sowande Ayodole Johnson, Layla Leotha Llewelyn, Liset M. Milian, Hans J. Murzi, Phong Thach Nguyen, MD Anisur Rahman, Ricardo Simon Rodriguez, Edward G. See, Juan A. Sotero, Melanie A. Straub, Dr. Pornsri Suthanaruk, Dr. Walter Z. Tang, Dr. Berrin Tansel, Eukeni Urrechaga, Achara Ussawarujikulchai, Jeffrey J. Warkoski, and Zhihua Zhang.      

Year 2003 (April 11, 2003):

Paulina Jaramillo, Daniel B. Klein, Justin T. L. Leung, Jose Antonio Polar, and Robert J. Ross.

Year 2004 (February 27, 2004):

Sandra E. Giraldo, Brandon L. Mintz, Sergio A. Garcia, Wisler Pierre-Louis, Eli J. Tilen, Andrea M. Suarez, Mariela Batista, Oscar Vasquez, Manuel E. Moncholi, and Galia Yaari.

Year 2007 (February 23, 2007):

Ana M. Arana, Anna R. Bernardo-Bricker, Ghislaine Carr, P.E. (Distinguished Alumna), Rena Z. Chen, P.E., D.E.E., Aylin Costa, Brandy I. Creed, Joan I. Fernandez, Valeria D. Lopez and Mehrnoosh Mahmoudi.

Year 2008 (February 29, 2008):

Bryant M. Alvarado, Kenneth L. Caban, Carlos A. Castro, Jairo D. Crespo, Maricela J. Fuentes, Carlos L. Hernandez (Distinguished Alumnus), David McIntosh, Paola A. Mendoza, Dr. Fernando R. Miralles-Wilhelm, Mauro Nalesso,   AnilKumar Reddy Nimmala, Marcel J. otter, John Grace Pallepogu. Hui Shi, Carlos E. Tamayo, Dr. Orhan Sevimoglu (Alumnus), Mandar S. Zope.

Information

For information on TXA, please contact any of the Officers or Professor Fuentes. A Bulletin Board is displayed and maintained by the Chapter with general themes of interest, including members, in the general area of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. 

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