The College of Engineering - 2010 Celebration

Keicha Muriel

Civil Engineering, Class of 2009

A Rising Star

Charting her path through various challenges, Keicha Muriel is the epitome of tremendous drive resulting in achievement.

Moving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New Jersey at age 16, Muriel spoke little English — and forced herself to learn it fluently in just a few years.

After graduating from high school, Muriel was accepted to Rowan through the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF), a program assisting students who otherwise might not be able to attend college.
Muriel often enrolled in seven classes each semester while working additional hours to help support her family. After working night shifts for two months at Target Inc., she left the job to increase her focus on studies. The additional time for academics was not wasted.

As president of Rowan University’s Engineers Without Borders-USA chapter, Muriel expanded the organization’s on-campus outreach and helped establish new committees, including a communication committee, which developed a newsletter for sponsors, students, and other audiences.

Receiving thousands of dollars in scholarships while at Rowan, Muriel was honored with the American Society of Civil Engineers-South Jersey Branch Outstanding Student scholarship and the Lockheed Martin Corp. Scholarship.

Rowan’s Camden campus, where Muriel began her college education, honored her with its “Outstanding EOF Student 2009” award. Muriel fondly remembers celebrating the achievement while sitting next to Rowan President Dr. Donald Farish during a luncheon for the award.

“I was asked to say a few words and all I did was cry,” said Muriel. “I cried because ‘I did it,’ because I thought that I had made a difference in my life and also created a path for others like me, who come from other countries and are faced with many challenges that other students do not have.” 
Muriel’s trust in God guided her through various paths at Rowan.

“I believe that it was not only my commitment to my studies, but that God touched the hearts of those holding my scholarship applications in their hands,” said Muriel. “There was not a time that I did not have what I needed: money to eat, to fix my car every time it broke down, to buy what I needed for school. I was blessed!”

In her senior engineering clinic, Muriel helped develop ideas for a sustainable water distribution system in La Ceiba, El Salvador. These ideas, currently undergoing further development, will be used to deliver water through various-sized pipes to tanks based on the area’s demand.  

While interning three semesters for the Department of Transmission and Civil Engineering at Pepco Holdings Inc., Muriel submitted data to PLS-CADD — a program used for modeling, designing and analyzing power line systems. Upon graduating from Rowan, she returned to Pepco Holdings, Inc. as an engineer.

Aside from engineering career ambitions, Muriel has other goals.

“I dream of building orphanages and schools where they are really needed, like in Haiti,” said Muriel. “My husband founded a not-for-profit organization in 2007 called Ebenezer Mission, with the idea of going to developing countries and providing food, housing and knowledge to kids who have nobody in their lives. I truly believe that my engineering skills will be used to bless others.”