CSULB student named one of 2016’s New Faces of Civil Engineering

Do not expect to lounge around all day with civil engineering fifth year Cody Dodge anytime soon. Or even sit still for very long.

Co-president of the American Society of Civil Engineers at Cal State Long Beach, Dodge is busy finalizing a 1200-attendee conference and overseeing a $1.4 billion mass transit construction project. He might not mention this, but he’s also an award winner.

Dodge was named one of 2016’s New Faces of Civil Engineering by the national chapter of ASCE. He is now one of 10 candidates eligible to be named the New Face of Engineering by the DiscoverE organization sometime in April.

Jane Howell, communication director of ASCE, said judges look for candidates with a GPA of 3.0 or higher that are already actively involved in their profession. Specifically, they’re involved in some kind of community or public service — qualifications Dodge had and more, Howell said.

“Even as a student he was already in the field working on a major project that’s gonna reshape transportation in his community,” Howell said. “So that would be one element that would really make [him] stand out.”

The Regional Connector Transit project, which Dodge works as a foreman on, will connect the Metro Rail Gold line to the Blue, Expo, Purple and Red lines through underground tunnels. Its size and cost dub it a “mega project,” which is exactly what Dodge wants to work on.

“I mean it’s once in a lifetime, right? In 20 years I can come back to L.A. if I don’t live here anymore with my kids and be like, ‘I helped build this tunnel we’re riding through,’” Dodge said. “Only a handful of people that worked on the project [would] be able to say that … it’s like you’re building America’s infrastructure.”

Traylor Bros. is a construction organization working on the transit project. Out of four internship offers, Dodge accepted theirs last summer. When the foreman he worked under left, Dodge took over some of the responsibility.

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“Definitely I was handed a lot of responsibility when I started, not really intern duties,” Dodge said. “These are guys that have been working on labor in construction projects for 30 years and they’re listening to a 22-year-old kid tell them what to do. It’s been pretty challenging.”

Dodge has been co-president of ASCE with civil engineering fifth year Tatiana Braun since fall 2015. Previously, they worked as coordinators of the 2016 ASCE Pacific Southwest Conference, which CSULB hosts spring 2016.

Dodge joined ASCE his freshman year and has also acted as their representative in the Associated Engineering Student Body, upperclassman liaison and team captain at the annual steel bridge competition during the ASCE regional conference.

The ASCE Pacific Southwest Conference runs from March 31 to April 2 at CSULB with a canoe race at the Marine Stadium and a banquet at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Long Beach.

He said he is a complete busy body who enjoys taking on new projects and challenges to keep him going.

Jayson Musngi, a civil engineering fifth year and activities chair of ASCE, said the need to keep moving extends to Dodge’s down time.

“He has to go somewhere to relax. He doesn’t want to just stay home and lay down,” Musngi said. “He’d rather go out to the beach, or go on a hike, or camping, or take pictures or walk to enjoy.”

Musngi got to know Dodge well this year after becoming activities chair and finding out they live a mile or two away from each other.

“We have a ‘bromance’ kind of thing going on,” Musngi said. “I remember when I found out about [getting] my [new] job he would text me and be like, ‘Oh, you got your interview. How come you didn’t tell me?’”

Musngi and his friends hear about Dodge’s love for his work at Traylor Bros. in and out of school.

“We always make fun of him like, ‘Okay dad, we get it, like, you don’t need to tell us; we already know,’” Musngi said. “He’s really proud of [his job], which is good; like he’s helped me a lot to realize what I want to do.”

Mentoring and guiding new members of ASCE is something Dodge makes a point to do.

“I get freshmen that walk in here all the time like, ‘How do I get involved,’ [and] ‘What do I need to do to be successful,’ and it’s just like, I love preaching to them like a grandfather,” Dodge said.

Dodge said this was the reason he applied for the new faces award.

“I like to have [the award] so I can be like, ‘Look what you can do,’ and like, ‘look what it’s given me,’” Dodge said.

However, his award wasn’t common knowledge. Braun said she didn’t know he’d been given it till the Daily 49er contacted her for a comment. It’s common, Braun said, since Dodge is not one to brag.

“He’ll bring [his accomplishments] up but it’s more matter-of-fact,” Braun said. “Like he’ll never bring it up to boast.”

Candidates for the award are chosen by a panel of judges from ASCE including: the president of ASCE, chair of the diversity and inclusivity committee, executive director and last years New Face of Engineering recipient.

Howell said the judges award new faces within two categories: students and young professionals under 30. This came in response to common achievement awards that only go to engineers with long established careers, Howell said.

“The idea was, instead of waiting till people are at the end of their career, to find those people who we think are really going to shape the future,” Howell said. “And really showcase them to show that engineering is this really diverse, dynamic [and] changing field.”

Dodge said he’s proud of his accomplishments and with organizing the conference, but he’s looking forward to focusing on other things. He said he still has classes to finish up and a wedding to plan for summer 2016.

“I’m getting married in the summer and I barely ever see my fiancé,” Dodge said. “It’d be nice to have some time to spend with her.”