The student chapter at Ball State University said they nominated Dr. Sherif Attallah to be MCAA’s 2020 Educator of the Year because he is more than qualified and deserving of the prestigious award. The Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA)'s Career Development Committee agrees for the following reasons:

Chapter Participation
Dr. Attallah played a crucial role in planning and participating in Ball State’s first annual Top Golf event. Attallah attends most of their chapter meetings, at which he always helps members with challenges they may be facing with their role in the competition. He still holds several field trips for his various classes and the student chapter, often organizing and leading these numerous educational field trips himself.

Mentoring
Attallah’s connections within the industry help his students communicate with industry professionals who are willing to speak to their chapter. Whenever his students have a question about something that he does not know, he puts them in contact with someone who does. When planning for their fundraiser, Attallah was a significant contributor when trying to find participants; he used his network to reach out and get several participants involved. He did a phenomenal job with this being the chapter’s first annual Top Golf event, which they now plan to continue annually. In his teachings of the mechanical class at Ball State, Dr. Attallah has brought in several contractors that teach the class and sit with the team after talking to them about the mechanical industry.

Membership
Attallah is the professor for several introductory classes for the Ball State program. With this connection, he plays a crucial role in recruiting younger members for the chapter. Attallah also implements new and useful recruiting ideas, along with suggesting new members. Every year, he helps his student chapter come up with new activities for their chapter’s first call-out meeting for the school year. In the past, this event has been the deciding factor when recruiting new members to join their chapter and learn more about the mechanical contracting industry.

Student Internships
Attallah has helped several of the team members get in touch with industry professionals, which in turn leads to internships as well as full-time employment. The members have greatly benefited from his involvement with the mechanical internship program. With his teaching of the mechanical class, he gets to help students that are not in the chapter by letting them hear from the industry professionals that he brings in about internships and joining their chapter.

Employment
Last year, two Ball State University student chapter members found full-time careers in the industry, one with North Mechanical and one with Bowen Engineering. He continues to lead his students towards the mechanical field every year.

Faculty Internships
Attallah has worked with HMH Contractors and, most recently, Kiewit during the summers. With HMH, he worked as an estimating engineer during the summer. In addition to helping HMH during a particularly busy time, he gained industry experience to bring back to the chapter and the mechanical class. During his time with Kiewit, he was a faculty scholar for their company and was a massive help over the summer.