Sophia Dent

Vandalia, Ohio | Chemical Engineering Major

The accomplishments of Sophia Dent and fellow recipient Michaela Mitchell are so closely linked that the first part of both pages are the same, followed by additional contributions of each recipient. Sophia and Michaela served as president and vice president of Miami’s Engineers Without Borders (EWB) organization over the past year. Prior to COVID, EWB members were involved in planning and coordinating multiple simultaneous projects in different locations. Although members stopped meeting in person, these projects did not stop because of the pandemic. Through Sophia’s and Michaela’s leadership, EWB continued to work with a Cincinnati park to survey and design a bridge for hikers, and even worked remotely with communities in Uganda and Rwanda to help supply water to five villages, almost 5,000 total people. Even more impressive, EWB members continued their work with enthusiasm and even recruited a large class of new members in Fall 2020. They kept the organization responsive to members’ needs, from changing meeting times to including more professional development and more opportunities to interact with the chapter’s mentors.

Individually, Sophia has traveled to Rwanda twice with EWB, serving as the trip manager the second time. She coordinated logistics that led to the successful installation of a two-mile long water supply pipeline. Sophia has been involved with the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute and with the Center for Career Exploration and Success, where she coordinated the social media presence.

One nominator put it well, saying that “both Sophia Dent and Michaela Mitchell have provided outstanding leadership to Engineers Without Borders, first in separate roles and then working together to guide the chapter through the challenging pandemic year of 2020.” They are receiving recognition for their distinguished efforts both separately and together.