Brian J. Walkenhauer

Ready for More

“I wanted to learn more.”

Brian J. Walkenhauer, a first year graduate student in Civil Engineering, loved his undergraduate experience at WSU – so much so that he decided to stay on for a master’s degree. 

“I already knew the professors and their research interests,” said Walkenhauer.  “The faculty here are amazing teachers and I’ve heard of a lot of other schools that lack in that area – our faculty are really great at giving you the help you need.” 

Walkenhauer received one of 35 national fellowships from the engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi.  With his stipend, Walkenhauer will continue his research with Professor David McLean examining seismic retrofit options to prevent shear failure in concrete bridge columns.

“The Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) found one of Seattle’s bridges would not be able to withstand an earthquake, so we are building scale models of various designs brought in from the DOT to see if they are up to snuff,” he said.

Walkenhauer says he is not yet ready to set his sights on a PhD, but isn’t ruling it out just yet.  “I’ve always thought about teaching in the future,” he said.  “But at the same time I can’t imagine taking a class from someone without experience in the field.  Most of the professors here have experience in the field and they are able to expand on the textbook equations you learn with personal rules of thumb – and that’s invaluable.” 

During summer 2008, Walkenhauer interned for the structural engineering firm Coughlin Porter Lundeen in Seattle, this piqued his interest even more in a career dedicated to solving some of the structural challenges facing the profession.  He hopes to be able to take what he is learning through his research and coursework and apply it to design of medium to high-rise buildings. 

In addition to research and school-work, Walkenhauer is active in the ASCE Steel Bridge team, whose mission is to design a 20 foot bridge for competition that meets certain criteria for design and stiffness.  He and his teammates have their eyes set on April 2009, when they head to the regional steel bridge competition in the hopes of placing high enough to get to the national competition.  “We have a goal to do well,” he said. 

Despite what might look like a daunting schedule, Walkenhauer remains grounded, making sure to put eight to ten hours a day in to his studies during the week so he can spend the weekends enjoying the outdoors and catching up on his sleep.

“It might mean a long weekday,” he said.  “But it keeps me healthy.”