When Erik Bjork graduates from Bemidji State University in December, he’ll leave behind a tribute to his alma mater: a handsome, white pine arch located on the west end of the Chet Anderson Stadium.

The arch is one of two projects that have incorporated wood harvested from three 100-year-old white pine trees cut down in the summer of 2013 to accommodate stadium renovations. Bjork and three other students spearheaded the project to repurpose the wood.

“We came up with the designs, drew them in CAD, had them structurally approved and helped mill the logs and construct and build the arch,” said Bjork, who took the lead as an accomplished woodworker.

He is wrapping up a degree in engineering technology with an emphasis in manufacturing management. He plans to someday own a custom cabinetry and furniture business.

“My dad had a little shop in our house … and I would build things there and tinker,” Bjork said. “Then in high school, I built a cabinet and fell in love with it. I just love hands-on building.”

By the time Bjork was 18, he had purchased his own tools and started a small side business crafting custom furniture. He spent the past four summers with a cabinet company, most recently as a project manager intern responsible for bidding, estimating and analyzing costs for shop operations.

Bjork grew up hearing BSU stories from his father, Steve, who graduated in 1986. But ultimately it was the university’s engineering technology program that most attracted him – that and the chance to hunt and fish. He joined the BSU chapter of Ducks Unlimited when he arrived.

Last year, he helped found the Beaver Engineering and Design Club, which in its first year built the arch and attended an industry conference in New Orleans. He has also received three BSU scholarships: Alumni, Paul Bunyan Communications and Kraus-Anderson.

“Erik is one of the finest students that I have ever taught,” said his advisor Dr. Mahmoud Al-Odeh. “The quality and standard of his work is outstanding and clearly reflected in the arch.”

Bjork looks forward to his final BSU project, an independent study in which he expects to spend up to 200 hours designing and building a cedar-ribbed canoe, which will go with him when he graduates.

He’s proud, though, to leave the arch behind. “A person should try to leave their mark,” Bjork said. “Ours will be a big arch.”