Ronald Prusia

Outstanding Graduate Ronald Prusia majored in construction engineering because he wants to design and build real-world systems that have a lasting impact.

“Each semester, my classes showed me new applications for things I’d learned before,” Prusia says. “Going from physics to construction management classes and then from high-level structure design to safety classes showed me the range that construction engineering covers, and it was exciting.”

Hard work and dedication are the words that come to mind when Prusia thinks about the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University.

“Engineering has made me a very hard-working, devoted person who wants to make an impact,” he says.

The first construction bid group project Prusia worked on was difficult because no group members had any real-world experience to guide them.

“I remember feeling like we were behind the curve all semester, and we had to work really hard to deliver a good project,” Prusia says. “My group spent so much time together, and it was memorable to learn new stuff about construction that we had never been exposed to before.”

Their group did a great job on the final presentation, and “I think this project taught me more industry-applicable things than anything I’ve done since,” he says.

Having an engineering degree means being part of the design and construction of structures that people rely on every day, Prusia says.

“While it’s exciting to be involved in making creative designs, the responsibility of safety that our profession takes on is something that has taught me a lot,” he says. “Protecting people’s lives and contributing to the well-being of communities through our work is something that shouldn’t be forgotten.”

Prusia plans to work as a field engineer for a general contractor after graduation. He hopes to go into the industrial field where he can be on-site helping coordinate design and construction of interesting, complex projects in Arizona.

In the future, he would like to be either a senior project manager for a general contractor or a general superintendent, if he stays in the field.

“While my career aspirations are not as heavily centered on design engineering as on construction, I hope that I’m involved in large industrial projects that require a lot of engineering to design,” he says. “To be able to build the designs that I have come to learn would be fulfilling.”

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ spring 2025 class here.