A UA Little Rock student has received a $5,000 scholarship from the AISC Education Foundation.
Tyler Burns, a junior civil and construction engineering major from Van Buren, is one of 55 students from across the U.S. who received a scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year. The AISC awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships to this year’s cohort.
“I am very grateful for the scholarship as it allows me to invest in textbooks and school supplies that I will need to help me prepare for my career,” Burns said. “I’m very grateful to AISC and to Chris Baldwin, vice president of estimating at my work, who recommended me for the scholarship.”
These scholarships support juniors, seniors, and master’s-level students in civil engineering, architectural engineering, construction engineering, materials/metallurgical engineering, construction management, and architecture programs in the U.S.
“Our scholarships are the AISC Education Foundation’s biggest investment in the next generation of our industry,” said AISC Director of Foundation Programs Maria Mnookin. “It’s easy to be excited about that investment when we see these students’ high academic caliber coupled with their passion for structural steel. Our collective future looks very bright, and we are thrilled to recognize these very deserving recipients.”
Burns received the W&W | AFCO Steel Scholarship. W&W | AFCO Steel is an international construction company that specializes in bridges, commercial buildings, and industrial work. Burns has interned with the company for over a year, working on structural steel estimating and quality control projects in the Little Rock and Van Buren offices before studying abroad this summer. Now Burns is back at work in the Little Rock office this fall in the engineering department.
“I love collaborating with people from all walks of life,” Burns said. “My coworkers give me advice on all things. I enjoy getting to work in the field and getting to see how interesting the work is. AFCO makes it feel like a family here.”
He also loves telling his family about some of the more interesting projects he’s worked on.
“We are providing some structural steel for the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, which is the second largest factory in the United States,” Burns said. “We did a re-estimate for the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and my dad is a huge Dallas fan. We’ve even done cost estimates on the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.”