 Purdue Engineering welcomes you to our 2021 Distinguished Engineering Alumni-Alumnae Awards. I am Stephen Rogers, a senior studying civil engineering from Dallas, Texas. I'm an undergraduate researcher in the Joint Transportation Research Program working on Indiana Highway Safety. I am an undergraduate researcher in the Joint Transportation Research Program working for Indiana Highway Safety. In my persistent pursuit of the next giant leap, as president of the Purdue Gymnastics Club for the past year and a half, I provide a space for beginning gymnasts to learn gymnastics and for advanced gymnasts to practice. I am also a member of the Club Sports Council, helping the director of Club Sports organize events, run Club Sports hearings and address other issues facing Club Sports. These roles have taught me not only how to lead a team to success but have developed my invaluable ability to listen, to learn and to provide insight, to be an impact maker. It is my privilege to introduce the 2021 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award recipient from the Lyle School of Civil Engineering, Andrea Ronaldo, a world-renowned water scholar. Born in Venice, his passions sparked at age 12 seeing his hometown underwater from an Adriatic sea storm surge. Following his father, grandfather and a brother into civil engineering, he came to Purdue for his doctorate in fluid mechanics. While here another passion emerged, research and science and engineering that fueled his persistent pursuit of the next giant leap in understanding the function of river networks as ecological corridors for the migration of species and diseases. Ronaldo is a top authority in eco-hydrology, a field which he co-founded and helped define. His co-authored research monograph, Fractal River Basins, Chance and self-organization is considered the standard reference in its field. He continues to advance his research as the director for the laboratory of eco-hydrology, ECHO, where he blends laboratory and field work with the theoretical modeling to develop an integrated eco-hydrological framework. Ronaldo is the first Neil Armstrong distinguished visiting fellow at Purdue and is a member of several prestigious arts and sciences academies in Italy, the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering in the US and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. For his internationally recognized expertise in hydraulic engineering that contributes to the structural understanding of river basins and the role drainage networks play as ecological corridors for species, populations, pathogens and biodiversity, the College of Engineering is proud to present the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award to Andrea Ronaldo. To learn more about how Purdue influenced Dr. Ronaldo, please click his video in the link below. Boiler up and hail Purdue.