Civil is a social major here.
Oluwatobiloba Oloye, who goes by David, started in the Civil and Environmental Engineering as a freshman at UMD in Fall 2022. He was drawn to the major by his interest in the environment and sustainable development, and by his desire to build tangible, practical things that impact people’s everyday life. He is now a Junior in the Environmental/ Water Resources track.
This semester, David was selected for the CEE Department's DEI Service award, which is presented to a department student for demonstrated service and activism in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion to the student engineering community. He has said he appreciates the award because he comes from an immigrant community and didn’t initially have a lot of external support coming into college; he wants to reach out, inspire, and be a resource for others who are in the same position he was.
David says his favorite thing about the CEE Department at UMD is the sense of community the department provides. “Engineering can be a less social major, but Civil here is different,” he says. He also appreciates the hands-on engineering experiences and networking opportunities he’s had through the department. One course he particularly appreciated is Dr. Andrade’s Engineering for Sustainability course, which sparked his interest in renewable energy. This summer, he will be traveling to Greece for Dr. Goulias’s Sustainability and Infrastructure class.
David is the Vice-President of UMD’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He says his goal in the organization is to promote community among civil engineers, raising their awareness of the opportunities available and giving them a support group within the department.
David was also previously a member of Engineers without Borders, working on the Nakifuma, Uganda project improving water and latrine facilities. He additionally serves as a Student Consultant for the Quest Honors program, interfacing with companies to improve their projects and processes. In addition, he is a Clark Ambassador, and a member of the Black Engineers Society, the Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society, and College Success Scholars.
Last summer, David interned at Atkins Realis as a Water Resources Engineering Intern, designing flooding models. This coming summer, he will be interning with Kimley-Horn doing site design and hopefully also work related to water resources and solar energy.
David plans to graduate in Spring 2026. He intends to go into industry in environmental engineering, focusing on energy and sustainability. He may also get a Master’s degree. In the long term, he hopes to start his own firm. Based on the positive impact he has already made at UMD, it will be exciting and inspiring to see where he goes next.
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