Dozens of engineering organizations tee off in annual Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering golf tournament
September 17, 2026
Thirty organizations competed Wednesday morning in the Herff College of Engineering Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering's second annual golf.
Representatives from organizations like Flintco, Duroterra, LDA Engineering, BH&M, Gephart, OHM, W&T, Ardurra, A2H Engineers Architects Planners, Pickering, Fisher Arnold, BHS Concrete, Rose Construction, Gresham Smith, Turner, SSR, Yates Construction, the Tennessee Concrete Association, RKA Construction, All World Project Management and the City of Memphis spent nearly five hours braving the summer heat while participating in a scramble at The Links at Audubon in order to raise money for the department. The event serves as the biggest yearly fundraiser for the department, according to department chair Dr. Rouzbeh Nazari.
"We are bringing our alumni, industry partners and friends together to support the department and the student activities going on. Hopefully, we can grow as we do it every year and bring in more people to see the department, the activities that we have and increase the interaction that we have between our students and industrial partners. Hopefully, this event will encourage more students to join our program and support the workforce need of the city of Memphis," Nazari said.
Several participants, like David Howell, who works as a maintenance senior administrator with the Division of Public Works at the City of Memphis, graduated from the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. Howell said the annual golf tournament serves as a great way to give back to his alma mater and stay in touch with other alumni.
"The civil engineering department for the City of Memphis is a great organization," Howell said. "I graduated from there. It's awesome to see other graduates from other years and see where they've landed in the industry."
Some of Howell's fellow alumns have landed at Pickering. Making sure that pipeline of talent keeps flowing is what led Pickering to get involved in and sponsor the golf tournament, according to Director of Transportation for Tennessee Patrick Neal, who graduated from Memphis State University.
"We've got quite a few graduates from the University of Memphis, some, like myself, from Memphis State University. So, it's always good to give back and we're always looking for new students who are coming out of college and ready to go to work," Neal said.
Though September's scramble marked just the second annual golf tournament for the department, it's an idea that has been in the works for nearly a decade, according to civil engineering advisory board member and president of LDA Engineering Zack Daniel. He said the event not only serves as a networking opportunity for alumni and other engineers but also directly impacts student activities in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering.
"It's a great opportunity for us to support the student services side of the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering," Daniel said. "There are not a lot of discretionary funds at a university level when it comes to supporting student services. So, this gives Dr. Nazari and his team an opportunity to support students with conferences and things they may need for research and other initiatives. There's a lot of construction and consulting firms here, a lot of alumni and a lot of people who use the university as a sounding board and a way to train up our students. So, it's a great opportunity for us to give back."
Some of the funds raised through the department's inaugural golf tournament in 2025, for instance, helped pay for the Herff College of Engineering's American Society for Civil Engineers student chapter travel to West Virginia to compete in the organization's national student competitions in April 2026. The trip represented the group's first trip to the national competitions since 2009.
Each drive and each putt during the golf tournament represented another layer of support for the department and, hopefully, another layer of insurance that the talent coming out of the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering stays in Memphis.
"I graduated from the University of Memphis Herff College of Engineering in 2018. It changed my life, best college ever. I think it's very important to come out here and support that college because they constantly produce great talent and we need to keep great talent in Memphis. So, the more people that we can bring and keep here, the better the whole city is going to be. So, I think it's very important for alumnus and even just Tiger fans to support the college and make sure that we keep that talent in our hometown," said Herff alum and project manager for All World Project Management Jason Kimmet.
Money isn't the only way participants supported the department. While financial contributions certainly help, others take a more direct role in student support such as Patrick Johnston, President of the Commerical Division at RKA Construction, who teaches construction management in the Department of Construction, Civil and Environmental Engineering.
"For me, at this point in my career, I felt like I was called to go back and share some knowledge and hopefully teach the next generation of builders in this industry and I believe in this industry and in the university. I'm just excited to be a part of it and help grow the next generation," Johnston said.
Nazari said plans for the department's third annual golf tournament are already in the works.