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Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

CFAES

Student Spotlight: Cassie Leigh Collins

Feb. 28, 2023
CSM Student Cassie Leigh Collins

Although fourth-year construction systems management (CSM) major Cassie Leigh Collins is originally from upstate New York, she has found a home at Ohio State in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering (FABE). 

Choosing FABE and CSM was easy for Cassie, and she has thoroughly enjoyed the course offerings and opportunities that FABE and CSM have provided her.

"When I was growing up I was surrounded by construction all the time," said Cassie. "My grandfather was a consultant and graduated college as an engineer, so he took me to multiple different job sites."

Outside of her studies, Cassie is involved in several different activities, including her position as the Ohio State Office of Design and Construction Intern and as an assistant TA, where she works with FABE professor Chris Tkach. 

"Interacting with Cassie has been a valuable experience as it has given me a deeper understanding of the student perspective, her insights have been incredibly enlightening," says Tkach. 

This past December, Cassie, Chris, and crew helped configure the lab that will be the future site of the Ohio State and Voyager joint venture laboratory that will allow researchers to test missions and conduct experiments on the ground.

"Although I will not be working on the lab, anything hands-on like that is my style," said Cassie. "I liked all the work we did to clean it out and build it back up."

Additionally, Cassie is a part of the Construction Systems Management Club, TA's for classes in her major, and serves as the Vice President and one of the founders of the CFAES Military and Veterans Club, a position which is very important to her.

"We started with a basic idea to connect students in CFAES that were veterans or who were closely connected to the military and branch out to the other colleges as well," said Cassie. "I’m not a veteran myself but the majority of my immediate family members are veterans or current active duty army, marine, and air force soldiers."

When she is not busy with being extremely involved as a student, intern, and worker at Ohio State, Cassie enjoys watersports such as waterskiing and wakeboarding, a skill she learned growing up near a  lake. 

As for what lies beyond her academic career, Cassie is trying to keep her options open, mostly because there are so many aspects of her major that she likes! 

"I’m taking a little bit of a different path than most of my peers because I want to be more connected with field work and trades than the act of actually managing them," said Cassie. "I’ve worked with quite a few construction companies, all of which are slightly different in specialties, and I’ve liked them all, but I’m keeping my options open until graduation comes a bit closer."