Two graduate students from the Civil Engineering department, Yi Huang and Mohammad Minhaz Mahdi, died June 5 in a car accident in Sandoval County.
Huang, a 24-year-old student from China, and Mahdi, a 30-year-old student from Bangladesh, both died after their car slid off the road and rolled over three times, according to a representative of the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Department.
The two graduate students and another student, Nasrin Sumee, were returning to Albuquerque from a hiking trip at the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument near Cochiti Pueblo.
Huang died at UNM Hospital and Mahdi died at the scene, according to the police report.
Sumee survived the crash and is in stable condition at UNM Hospital. She is a colleague and friend who shared an office with Huang and Mahdi.
On June 10, friends, instructors and other members of the Civil Engineering Department held a memorial service on campus at the Alumni Chapel. Those who spoke at the standing-room-only affair remembered Huang and Mahdi as diligent, intelligent students and funny and kind people.
“I’m still stunned and shocked by the news,” said John Stormont, a professor in the Civil Engineering department, “They slowly became integrated parts in the department. We are a tight community. Yi and Minhaz were very involved. Their offices were always open for anyone to stop by.”
Huang came from China to UNM in 2008. She was studying pavement design and engineering and was expected to graduate this summer. Huang was developing her thesis work through a study with the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the mechanistic-empirical pavement
design guide (MEPDG). The study evaluates strength and pavement designs for reliability.
Julie Conrood, a Civil Engineering professor, said Huang was writing the conclusion to her thesis.
“She was a good student,” Conrood said. “Vibrant, outgoing, always smiling — always.”
Mahdi began working on his master’s degree at UNM in the fall 2009. He graduated from The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Before he left Bangladesh, he was an engineer who built and maintained telecommunication facilities.
However, during his first semester, Mahdi contracted a serious illness that forced him to miss most of his classes.
“He really believed in higher education. He gave me the motivation to start my Ph.D. work,” Mesbah Ahmed, a friend, said. “When he came back from his quarantine, he was very determined, focused and eager to get back to work.”
Ahmed began school at UNM at the same time as Mahdi and shared an office with Mahdi and Huang.
“I would have to teach a class, and before each class, Yi would come up to me and say, ‘Hey professor. Good morning,’ as a joke,” he said. “She could also pretend to walk like some of our professors to make us laugh. She could imitate how we all walked.”
Like Huang, Mahdi loved the New Mexico outdoors and wanted to find a job in the U.S. after school. Mahdi was known for working late hours, even sleeping in his office. He did this so often that Ahmed said he bought him a sleeping bag to take to work. He loved to cook his favorite dish, Kichuri, an Indian comfort food made with rice and lentils. Mahdi was also into heavy metal music.
“We were going to see Muse and Iron Maiden,” Ahmed said. “We would take breaks and headbang in our office.”
In fact, Ahmed said he was listening to The Scorpions the night before the crash.
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“I heard the Scorpion’s song, ‘Life is too short’ the night before the crash,” Ahmed said. “It’s odd, really, but it’s true.”
Stormont said the loss of both students will be felt throughout the department.
“They left a mark on everyone, especially other students,” he said.
Ahmed said he will remember his friend, Mahdi, for the wisdom and encouragement he provided.
“He once told me, ‘Enjoy the coffee, not the cup,” Ahmed said. “He changed my way of thinking about my research. He changed my life.”
