The American Galvanizers Association (AGA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Galvanize the Future: A Richard L. Brooks Memorial Scholarship essay contest. Two students were selected from applicants enrolled in architecture, construction, or engineering programs in colleges throughout North America.

Cary Wingard is currently working on her Bachelors in Science Degree in Civil and Structural Engineering from Florida International University in Miami, FL. In her essay, Cary addressed the need for updated infrastructure in Suwannee County. After thorough evaluation, she came up with a strategy that combines galvanized steel for superstructures and reinforced concrete for decks and foundations as the most practical approach to update the many short-span bridges in the rural county.

Parham Bakhtiari is completing his Doctorate in Civil Engineering at Utah State University in Logan, UT. In his essay, Parham explored building resilient, sustainable 100-year bridges but utilizing hot-dip galvanized steel. He evaluated different materials considering their initial construction cost, service life expectancy, maintenance requirements, life-cycle costs and the environmental impact. Hot-dip galvanized steel emerged as the optimal solution for rural counties replacing multiple short-span bridges

The current and past scholarship winners can be viewed on the AGA’s website. The AGA’s scholarship program is named in honor of the late Richard Brooks of Duncan Galvanizing in Boston, MA. Brooks was a great advocate in the galvanizing industry and integral to shaping the AGA into the organization it is today.

The 2026 Galvanize the Future: A Richard L. Brooks Memorial Scholarship, will award two $2,500 prizes. The scholarship is open to any college students majoring in architecture, civil engineering or structural engineering, construction management, material science or other approved engineering fields. The student can be full or part time, and enrolled in either an undergraduate or graduate degree program at any four year university in North America. For more information on the scholarship or to apply, please visit galvanizeit.org/scholarship.