TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Sarah Barnes, a senior majoring in civil engineering at The University of Alabama, was recently awarded the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Daniel W. Mead Prize for Students for placing first in the ASCE National Paper Competition.

Barnes’ paper, titled, “Ethical Issues Surrounding Infrastructure Privatization,” explored professional ethics in engineering by focusing on the challenges of privatization and how it affects both public and private sector engineers. The paper also explained the reasons for privatization and consequences from poor decisions concerning privatization.

“This award is significant not only because it allows for UA’s College of Engineering to be recognized on a national level, but because it shows that engineers can do more than just crunch numbers,” said Barnes.

In addition to this honor, Barnes was recently awarded the John Faircloth Senior Leadership Award from UA’s department of civil, construction and environmental engineering. She also serves as the president of UA’s ASCE chapter and is a member of Associated Builders and Contractors.

Barnes, a resident of Tuscaloosa, has accepted a position at Southern Company in Tuscaloosa, where she will work with transmission line maintenance and design.

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 140,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 2,300 students and more than 100 faculty. In the last seven years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.

The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is in the midst of a planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state's economy, is in keeping with UA's vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state's flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.