A Chico State junior civil engineering major died earlier this month, according to an email sent to the campus community Nov. 7.

The student, Brandon Madison, was a 22-year-old first-semester transfer from Yuba College, according to the email.

Faculty members who knew Madison praised his work ethic and attention to detail.

“I did notice that he was punctual, he kept up on his work, and he seemed to be a good student, as well,” said Jason Barnum, who taught Madison in a 200-level computer applications course for civil engineers.

In Madison’s class, students mostly worked individually at computer stations and only asked for help if they ran into a problem they couldn’t understand, Barnum said. Madison almost never raised his hand.

“He got the concepts of the class very well,” Barnum said.

Even though he was just a first-semester Chico State student, Madison had aspirations to start his own engineering company in the bay area, said Curt Haselton, the chair of the civil engineering department. He was a double major who studied both civil engineering and applied mathematics.

Frank Garrison, a consultant at Newland Entities, the engineering company where Madison worked during the summer, said Madison’s family knew him to be a hard worker who was full of ambition.

Madison is survived by his parents, Theresa and Kevin, and a sister, according to the release.

Ben Mullin can be reached at [email protected] or @benmullin on Twitter.