February 26, 2021
The Mississippi Engineering Society, a statewide organization for professional engineers, has honored a Bagley College of Engineering student as Outstanding Senior for 2021.
Mississippi State civil engineering major Kathleen McMackin was selected as the top senior by the Mississippi Engineering Society.
Kathleen McMackin, a senior civil engineering student from Ocean Springs, was honored by MES as the Outstanding Senior based off of her academic accomplishments and campus involvement.
McMackin has been actively engaged in the BCoE since day one.
“When I came to Mississippi State, I knew I wanted to be involved and the great thing about MSU is there are so many opportunities to do that,” said McMackin.
She started off her freshman year by joining the Women’s Advisory Council for Civil and Environment Engineering, the MSU student chapter of the American Society for Civil Engineering and the recreational swim team (where she eventually served as vice president).
Following her freshman year, she participated in the Global Engineering Leadership Study Abroad and completed the Engineering Economy course in France, Spain, and England.
During her sophomore year of college, McMackin became involved in the Society for Women Engineers. She completed a cooperative education session with Red Hill’s Mine in Ackerman, Mississippi while interning for USACE’s Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).
“Both experiences were wonderful! I learned that I love to work with data and research. After that I began getting more involved with my organizations and I was inducted into honor societies,” said McMackin.
McMackin was inducted in three honor societies: Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, Chi Epsilon civil engineering honor society, where she served as president, and Phi Kappa Phi academic Honor Society.
McMackin intends to graduate during the spring of 2021. Her future plans are to pursue the master’s program in civil engineering at MSU with a focus on water resources and hopes to work at ERDC after she graduates.
Her significant achievements in academia during McMackin’s college career made her the perfect candidate to represent MES as its outstanding senior this year.
“I am very thankful for this opportunity, and I know that there are many other hardworking students at Mississippi State,” said McMackin. “The civil and environmental engineering department really had a part in my success with their technical knowledge and support.”
The Bagley College of Engineering is online at www.bagley.msstate.edu and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube at @msuengineering.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
By: Abbie Kate Hancock