A Feat of Engineering — and Design

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Posted on May 6, 2024

Michelle Matthews

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Among a sea of mortar boards on the heads of graduates in the USA Mitchell Center on Saturday morning, it was hard to miss Lawrence Stoudemire’s elaborately decorated creation.

Customizing mortar boards is a tradition; the Montgomery native started thinking about how he would decorate his back in January. “I wanted something to represent all my years of being here,” he said.

Stoudemire, who majored in civil engineering, completed a co-op with the Southern Company, the parent of Alabama Power Company. One day he saw a tree limb hanging from a power line, and that was all the inspiration he needed.

“The idea clicked in my mind,” he said. He would hang the clubs and organizations he’d been involved with at South on lines strung between two towers on his mortar board. Beneath the towers were a layer of grass, some trees and the words “civil engineer,” along with a Jag Spirit button he received from President Jo Bonner.

It took Stoudemire some 72 hours over the past month to complete his project. He printed out two copies of each organization’s logo, glued them together and laminated them — a stroke of genius, since a few raindrops fell that day – then used hot glue to hang them all. He ordered the towers online but had to put them together, which he did with Super Glue. (As a result, he says, he was peeling Super Glue off his fingers for days.)

When he had it completed a week or so before graduation, he had a moment of panic as he realized it might not stay on his head. He ended up folding the cap in the front to make the pocket smaller, which kept it in place as he walked across the stage to receive his diploma.

The work of an engineer.

“So many people were stopping me, taking pictures and videos,” said Stoudemire, who plans to start full time with Southern Company in July. “I’m glad I was able to inspire some people.”

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