George J. Tamaro on the job after the 9/11 attack.
GEORGE TAMARO/COURTESY
By Andrew Mannion, Asst. Sports Editor
The George J. Tamaro Scholarship was recently awarded to five civil engineering seniors at Manhattan College who demonstrated some of the top academic performance within their major with an interest in the deep foundations industry.
The students who won the award this year are Daniel Angel, Amadeusz Biela, Orlando Blanco, Samantha Perricelli and Emily Specht. These senior civil engineering students each received a $5,000 award to help with their studies.
Specht, one of the recipients, mentioned how the financial award of the scholarship is only the start of the benefits of winning the award.
“This scholarship is going to help this semester’s tuition for me, but I think it is good exposure for other companies to see us in this field,” Specht said. “I’ve gotten another scholarship with WTS, (Women’s Transportations Institution), and they actually had a gala where they brought the scholarship recipients in. It just gets you more exposure and connections to other professionals in this field, which I think is really good.”
The scholarship is named after a former MC graduate, George J. Tamaro. Tamaro is a slurry wall specialist known specifically for his work on the World Trade Center, WTC7 and the Freedom Tower. He has received a multitude of awards throughout his career, including the DFI Legends Award and U.S. Department of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal.
According to the Deep Foundations Institute website, “The scholarship is named for George J. Tamaro, the first-ever DFI Legends-Engineer Award recipient and an innovator in solving difficult foundation problems. The fund provides $15,000 in annual scholarships to undergraduate civil engineering students in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Manhattan College.”
Tamaro received a bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College in civil engineering, before receiving master’s degrees in civil engineering and architectural technology from Lehigh University and Columbia University. Additionally, in 2011, he received an honorary doctorate of engineering from Manhattan College.
MC selects students worthy of the scholarship by judging based on financial need, academic promise and a significant interest in the industry of civil/geotechnical engineering.
Blanco, another scholarship recipient, remarked on how he was able to thank the clubs that helped him learn what he knows today.
“I participate in workshops with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and I always try to do my best to provide funding,” Blanco said. “I think that’s very critical because the American Society of Civil Engineers have these conferences, and they’re not free. So I always have to do my best and try to provide something to try to help out.”
Recipients have also remarked on the responsibility that comes with earning this scholarship. Blanco mentioned that numerous people helped mentor him into the engineer he is today and the obligation he feels he now has towards the other younger engineers at MC.
“It’s very important to show students that are just coming in, whatever major, show them a piece of the industry and [give] the opportunity to talk to the alumni, and maybe even have them as a mentor,” Blanco said. “I’ve had mentors and people that helped me out and it’s brought me to where I’m at today.”