For a quick coffee grab, try Theory Coffee in San Antonio. No concrete slab for this shop because it sits on wheels instead. Theory Coffee is a mobile trailer that serves up some high quality, local brew roasted in Round Rock, TX. Track the trailer on their website, but most days it sits on the southwest corner of I-410 and Nacogdoches Road. Try it on your next commute!
Alpha Testing got to display our new booth at the Texas Water 2017 conference in Austin, TX. Keep an eye on our LinkedIn page to see where we will be exhibiting next and come see our new look in person!
Alpha Testing was a bronze sponsor at the Hidden Figures of Dallas Scholarship Fundraiser Gala on Saturday, March 25. The NSBE-DFW hosted the gala to raise scholarship funds for women in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex pursuing STEM majors (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Inspired by the book and film, Hidden Figures, the evening included honoring the scholarship recipients, dinner with keynote speaker Congresswomen Eddie B. Johnson, a silent auction, and raffle prizes.
Alpha’s Altagracia (Gracie) Cesaire helped make the event possible, serving as Pre-College Initiative Chair for NSBE-DFW Professionals. Her service included implementing different events for students, partnering with Dallas ISD, Girl Scouts, and YMCA, to bring STEM activities to minority and at-risk students.
Gracie was accompanied by Alpha’s Tony Janish, David Schledorn, and Harsha Addula. Props to Gracie for getting three of Alpha’s engineers in a suit and tie!
NSBE-DFW will be partnering with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to premiere ASCE’s new movie “Dream Big” on June 3, 2017. Please contact Gracie Cesaire at acesaire@alphatesting.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
Did you know that some of Alpha’s staff are also university professors? Mahsa Hedayati, PhD, PE, Geotechnical Engineer in Fort Worth and Yasser Abdelhamid, PhD, Geotechnical Project Manager in Dallas have both taught at their alma maters. Here’s a little about Mahsa and Yasser:
Mahsa earned her PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington and since 2015, has taught one course per semester. Her classes include geotechnical aspects of landfill design and computational geotechnics. Her favorite aspect of teaching is “…at the end, I see how engaged my students are. They’ve gone from being completely remote to the subject to someone who knows everything about it”.
Yasser earned his PhD in Civil Engineering from Southern Methodist University and taught Soil Mechanics fall semester 2016. Yasser also taught for 9 years throughout his Masters and PhD. During that time, he learned students had a tendency to focus on memorization to pass exams. To combat that trend, Yasser started to challenge his students, turning a lecture-based class into an interactive one, “it takes more time and effort of course, but it’s worth it because it makes students think vs. memorize”. Although Yasser is not teaching this semester, he is not quite ready to retire the red pen.
Posted in Meet the Staff
Where It All Begins 83 