Student leaders enrolled in the Civil Engineering program at Louisiana Tech University, Anna Katya Opel of Mandeville and Blaine Roussell of Pollock have received the D. Walter Jessen Sr. Civil Engineering Scholarship from the Scottish Rite Foundation. Opel and Roussell received the award for their outstanding academic and extracurricular work within the College of Engineering and Science at Louisiana Tech. The scholarship is awarded each year to rising junior and senior students pursuing civil engineering degrees at universities in Louisiana. Awardees must be in the top 50 percent of their class, demonstrate leadership and show potential to become innovative, well-rounded, and successful professional engineers. “We have so many outstanding students in the College of Engineering and Science,” Dr. Heath Tims, associate dean for undergraduate studies, said. “These two students are great examples of the type of students that we hope continue to choose Louisiana Tech.” “I am thrilled and greatly appreciative to have been selected by the Louisiana Scottish Rite Foundation for the D. Walter Jessen, Sr. Civil Engineering Scholarship,” Opel said of receiving the award. “This will allow me to further direct my focus on school with the hopes of working in the civil engineering field.” “The Scottish Rite Foundation Scholarship has allowed me to stress less about covering tuition and spend more time working on my degree,” Roussell said. “We are always thankful for scholarships and donors who provide aid for our students,” Tims added. “Many of our students have outside jobs, and scholarships can help them focus on their classes.” The D. Walter Jessen, Sr. Scholarship in Civil Engineering was established by the five Scottish Rite Bodies of Louisiana in honor of D. W. Jessen, Sr., Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, Free and Accepted Masons, and Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Scottish Rite Masons in the Orient of Louisiana.