Civil Engineering Institute Chair Living Her Dream as Mentor to Students

Civil Engineering Institute Chair

Living Her Dream as Mentor to Students

When civil engineering alumna Cerasela Cristei was growing up in Romania, she considered becoming a professional ballet dancer like her mother, father, and sister—or a teacher because she thought she would love to instruct and mentor younger people.

“My path to civil engineering was sinuous because I was born in a family of artists and imagined I would follow that path,” says Cristei, MS Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ’05, PhD Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ’10. But her grand jeté landed her in a different career. “I was good at math and physics so engineering was the right field for me.”

She immigrated to the United States in 1996 at age 31 with a five-year degree in civil engineering. She enrolled at Mason to earn a MS degree and later a PhD in civil and infrastructure engineering from the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIE). Cristei, director of design at EXP, is chair of the Civil Engineering Institute (CEI) board and a CEIE adjunct professor in charge of the senior design class.

Her goal with the board is to engage members in activities that promote the civil engineering department as well as attract new members. And she wants to work with the department’s faculty to make sure graduates possess the skills and knowledge they will need to launch into their jobs.

Cristei teaches a three-hour senior design class for CEIE every week. She guides teams of students as they develop solutions for a transportation problem in the area. This year, the students proposed options to replace a one-lane bridge in an increasingly congested area.

She wants students to be successful and stretch their skills. “With some, I encourage them saying, ‘Can you do better?’ That’s going to help them because that’s what we do in industry. The first solution you come up with is not always the best. “The best civil engineering students are the ones who take ownership of their projects, who learn the scope of the project, the standards that apply, and who constantly ask questions about how to do things better,” she says.

As she suspected long ago, Cristei loves teaching.

“It’s unbelievable how happy I am and how much energy I have after I teach the classes. My husband said to me, ‘You enjoy teaching’ and I do.” g

Studentathlete Steps Up to the Plate to Inspire

Women in STEM

Taylor Dadig’s hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, otherwise known as the “City of Bridges,” inspired her to pursue civil engineering, and now as a junior at Mason, she hopes to inspire other women to join the field.

“Bridges are all over the city, and I was always curious about how they worked,” says Dadig. “But I didn’t know there would be such a difference between the number of men and women in the field.”

Dadig, a member of Mason’s softball team, has pushed herself to excel on the field and in the classroom to show other women and girls that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. “Women bring a new perspective to problemsolving that is important in engineering. We have different experiences, different ideas, and we can do it just as well as men,” says Dadig.

At Mason, she sees the disparity in her classes. “While about half of my professors in civil engineering at Mason are women, which is inspiring, most of my classmates are still men,” she says.

For the past two summers, Dadig has also worked as an intern at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). “I was the only woman in my internship program, sometimes the only one in the room,” she says.

But Dadig doesn’t let the lack of representation negatively affect her. “I was fortunate enough that growing up I was pushed to take those higher-level math and science courses. And now, even though there is definitely a gap for women in STEM, I don’t want to focus on that difference. I want to look ahead.” Last February, Dadig was honored with fellow studentathletes as a Peter N. Stearns Provost Scholar Athlete, which means she has earned at least 38 credit hours at Mason and has achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or better. “Playing softball at Mason is a big plus, I came here for engineering, but I’m glad I’m able to play,” she says.

Dadig connects her success on the field to her success in the classroom and at her internship. “Sports have definitely prepared me for a career in engineering. Teamwork is key to success in softball and in engineering. You have to work together to win, and you have to work together to make sure structures are safe, or projects are completed.” g