Asia Khatun Civil and Environmental Engineering Endowment
The Asia Khatun Civil and Environmental Engineering Endowment has been established to honor the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department's history of producing excellent practicing engineers and to honor the mother of one of its more successful graduates, Mr. Ashraf Islam, a 1968 BSCE graduate. Mr. Islam's mother encouraged and supported his academic and professional careers.
Ashraf Islam, P.E., President and founder of A.I. and Associates, Inc., was born on July 31, 1946, in Bangladesh. He completed his early education in Bangladesh. Ashraf then chose to pursue his higher education in the United States. He went on to graduate in 1968 with a degree in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. During his years at Tennessee Tech, Ashraf was actively involved in social and political activities. He was nominated Vice President of the International Student Association in 1966 and later Chairman of the International Fair in 1967.
Upon graduation, he worked with consulting engineering firms in New York and New Jersey. During this time he was also a member of the Teaneck School Board Subcommittee for school reorganization.
Ashraf moved to Houston in 1981 to join Brown and Root, Inc., as a Civil Engineer. The year 1985 was a new beginning for him as it was then that he founded A.I. and Associates, Inc. The then small company has grown and flourished and now has branch offices in Dallas, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. A.I. and Associates, Inc. celebrated its 10th Anniversary this year, having grown to a 40-member professional organization. Recognition and accolades have come from many directions and the company was ranked 24th amongst the first 100 fastest growing small businesses in Houston.
Apart from being a busy entrepreneur and engineer, Ashraf still managed to maintain his social and political activities. The Fort Bend County honored him in 1984 for registering more than a thousand voters. He was elected Precinct Chairman and member of the Executive Committee of the Fort Bend County Republican Party and has been a delegate to the Republican Convention since 1984. He was elected Director of the Kings Bridge Utility District in 1984 and served as President of the board for seven years. He was President of the Providence Civic Association from 1983 to 1985 and President of the Providence Homeowners Association in 1986. He was elected Vice President of the Tennessee Tech Alumni Association in 1983 and President in 1986. Also in 1986, a Fort Bend County judge appointed him to a review committee for the Fort Bend County Flood Control Policy. He has been appointed Director of Fort Bend County House Finance Committee by the County Commissioners Court in 1993. He was Chairman of the Transportation Committee of American Association of Civil Engineering Houston Chapter in 1985 and Vice Chairman of the Texas Chapter in 1986.
Ashraf Islam has also been actively involved in the activities of the Bangladesh Community Association in Houston and was elected their Vice President from 1986 to 1988 and President from 1988 to 1990. He is the founder member and President of the Bangladesh American Chamber of Commerce in Houston.
Scholarships associated with Asia Khatun Civil and Environmental Engineering Endowment