June 2010 Virginia Engineers On The Move
 

The Structures Group, Inc., Consulting Engineers is pleased to announce that William F. Hinson, Jr., P.E., a partner of the firm, has been recognized as a Certified Building Official. Having completed the required testing, Mr. Hinson received his certification from the International Code Council and by the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Mr. Hinson is responsible for building code compliance issues on the projects designed within the firm, as well as providing building code compliance consulting and solutions to clients.

Fred Altizer Jr., P.E. joins McCormick Taylor’s Richmond office bringing over 40 years of experience in the transportation industry. As the former Salem District Administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), his diverse background ranged from project management, planning and finance, to maintenance and construction. Most recently as the Assistant to the Chief Engineer, he served as the I-81 Corridor Program Manager, coordinating project priorities related to mobility, environmental and community needs. In his new capacity, Mr. Altizer will be actively involved with numerous key projects in a senior transportation engineering role. He holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Hurt & Proffitt is pleased to announce that Shannon Cotulla, P.E., has been promoted to the Department Head position for the Geotechnical and Materials Testing Department. Mr. Cotulla graduated from North Carolina State University in 1998 with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering and has been with the firm for nearly 5 years. His first 3 years were in the Civil Department before leaving to take a position with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). While at VDOT he filled a number of managerial and leadership positions that afforded him the opportunity to gain significant skills in these areas. His last two years with VDOT were spent in the Executive Leadership program, including sitting in the position of Acting District Construction Engineer. While in that capacity he was over the District’s Preliminary Engineering Departments and the Construction Inspections and Materials Testing Departments. Upon his return to the firm, Mr. Cotulla has used his VDOT experience in assisting on a number of municipal and dam related projects. In his new position, he will also continue to provide engineering services to the firm’s clients through the Civil Department.
Shannon Cotulla

Jeffrey S. Davis, P.E., SECB, LEED GA, a partner with the structural engineering firm of Dunbar Milby Williams Pittman & Vaughan, PLLC (DMWPV), has recently earned the LEED® Green Associate certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Mr. Davis began his structural engineering career with DMWPV following graduation from Duke University where he received his B.S.E. and M.S. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

McDonough Bolyard Peck, Inc. (MBP) is pleased to announce that Kimball Ferguson has been named as its newest Senior Project Manager. Based in the firm’s Fairfax Branch, Mr. Ferguson will be leading branch Commissioning efforts. Prior to joining MBP, he was part of the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Baltimore, Maryland where he worked as Branch Supervisor of Facilities and Construction. Prior to his work with Johns Hopkins University, he worked as the Assistant Director of Health System Facilities Planning, Design and Construction at Duke University. Mr. Ferguson has extensive project experience and is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) in North Carolina, a Certified Healthcare Facility Manager (CHFM), and is LEED® AP certified. He earned his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering inducted seven new members into its Academy of Engineering Excellence, an elite group that now consists of only 97 people out of its more than 55,000 living alumni. The Academy of Engineering Excellence was founded in 1999 by F. William Stephenson, past dean of the college of engineering, and the College’s Alumni Advisory Board. This year marked the eleventh anniversary of the first induction. The 2010 inductees are: Richard Arnold, of Blacksburg, Va., Class of 1956, industrial engineering; H. Pat Artis of Pogosa Springs, Colo., Class of 1972, engineering science and mechanics; John “Jack” Boyd, of Saratoga, Calif., Class of 1942, aeronautical engineering; Nicholas DesChamps of Fincastle, Va., and Las Vegas, Nev., Class of 1962 and 1967, mechanical engineering; Dennis M. Kamber of Poolesville, Md., Class of 1964, civil engineering; Mary G. Miller, of Blacksburg, Va., Class of 1985, computer science; and E. Minor Pace of Mt. Vernon, Ill., Class of 1943, mining engineering.
Gary D. Seidel, assistant professor of aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has received a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award to support development of a carbon nanotube-enhanced composite for structural health monitoring sensors to improve the resiliency of huge wind turbine blades. Powe awards provide seed money for research at Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) member institutions. These awards are intended to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty and result in new funding opportunities. Dr. Seidel’s research also overlaps with several Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) initiatives, including addressing global warming through alternative energy, advancing active materials, and advancing multiscale characterization and modeling. Dr. Seidel joined Virginia Tech in August of 2008. He has been working in the area of multiscale modeling of the mechanical and non-mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites for the past six years through projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, NASA, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. His research focus is on developing integrated computational mechanics models to predict material properties and structural response of nanocomposites across length scales ranging from a few nanometers, through the micron scale, and up to the structural scale. He received his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University in 2007.
Pavlos Vlachos, Virginia Tech associate professor of mechanical engineering, and graduate student, Adric Eckstein, received the 2009 Outstanding Paper Award from the Institute of Physics’ Journal of Measurement Science and Instrumentation for their work in the area of fluid mechanics. Their work advanced a method earlier introduced by Mark P. Wernet, of NASA, in the same journal in 2005. At that time he presented a new paradigm for digital particle imagery velocimetry data processing. Dr. Vlachos and Mr. Eckstein call their technique the robust phase-correlation method, and the journal described their methodology for assessing performance as, “excellent” and “of general applicability … expected to have substantial impact in this very active area of fluid-mechanics measurements.” Dr. Vlachos is the director of the Advanced Experimental Thermofluid Engineering Research Laboratory at Virginia Tech. He has established a world-renowned program in the development and use of time-dependent digital particle image velocimetry for flow measurement. Applications for his research range from cardiovascular flows to super cavitating high-speed torpedoes. Throughout Dr. Vlachos’ career, he has been the principal investigator (PI) or co-PI for 48 externally funded projects totaling $9.9 million in research expenditures, with his share at $4.8 million. He has authored or co-authored 31 journal papers and 84 refereed papers in conference proceedings. His research has resulted in 10 intellectual property disclosures and four patents. In 2009, he was appointed an associate editor of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Journal of Fluids Engineering.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a graduate research fellowship to a recent alumna from the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Elaine Huffman graduated in May from the college’s Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Ms. Huffman this fall will enter Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she will pursue a M.S. degree in Building Technology. Ms. Huffman’s research will be focused on historic structures, particularly the collapse behavior of masonry structures. This past year she participated in a load-bearing analysis of a historic 130-year-old bowstring truss iron footbridge located in Ironto, Va. Built in 1878 and now part of an Interstate-81 rest stop, the bridge is said to be the oldest standing metal bridge in Virginia. For her efforts on the footbridge, Ms. Huffman won both the Marr Technical Paper and Hardy Cross Presentation Awards at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Virginias Conference. She also was voted the 2010 Outstanding Senior in the Virginia Tech civil and environmental engineering department.
Gary D. Seidel Pavlos Vlachos

Wiley|Wilson is pleased to announce that P. Leland Gammon, P.E., LC, LEED AP received the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Section Service Award at the Roanoke-Blue Ridge Section’s April 20th meeting. The Section Service Award is presented to members who have provided five or more years of leadership and dedicated service to their local section. Mr. Leland has served twice as the section’s president and is a long time member of the section’s Board of Managers. In addition to his service to his local section, he is also active at the national level. A Senior Engineer in the firm’s Electrical Engineering Department, Mr. Leland is a certified lighting designer and is accredited in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) program.
Wiley|Wilson is also pleased to announce that:
Mark R. Metzger, E.I.T. has joined the firm’s Civil Engineering Department as a Resident Project Representative. Mr. Metzger focuses on the construction administration and inspection of combined sewer overflow (CSO) separation projects. He received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering Technology from Old Dominion University; and
Jason D. Ingram, LEED GA successfully completed the requirements to earn a LEED® GA (Green Associate) accreditation. Mr. Ingram, a Construction Contract Administrator in the Construction Phase Services Department. He focuses on administering contracts on site development and building projects, performing building systems commissioning, and coordinating LEED compliance documentation. He holds a certificate in Computer-Aided Drafting from Central Virginia Community College and is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree from Averett University.
P. Leland Gammon Jason D. Ingram

Dewberry has announced the following promotions in the firm’s Danville office: Darren Conner, P.E., has been promoted to president of Dewberry & Davis, Inc., a Dewberry operating unit with a multidisciplined staff of 175 in five locations in Virginia and North Carolina. Mr. Conner will also maintain the title and responsibilities of office manager for the Danville office. He has been with Dewberry since 1984 and earned his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. With more than 25 years’ experience, he has been involved in a variety of projects ranging from water and sewer infrastructure to building design and renovation; and
Brian Bradner, P.E., has been promoted to assistant office manager. He will work closely with Mr. Conner in the management of the office’s daily operations and in serving a diverse client base that ranges from local municipalities to national commercial clients. Mr. Bradner has been with Dewberry since 1994. He earned a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from North Carolina State University and is a Certified Professional in Erosion & Sediment Control. With more than 15 years’ experience, he has been involved in the marketing, design, planning, and construction administration of land development projects.
Dewberry has also announced the presentation of the firm’s prestigious Harold Williams Award for Professional Excellence to Lawrence W. Olinger, P.E. Chairman Sidney O. Dewberry presented the award in recognition of his management expertise and professional leadership. A civil engineer with more than 40 years in professional practice, Mr. Olinger is Dewberry’s president of federal services and oversees more than $1 billion in contracts for the firm. He currently serves on the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) Foundation Advisory Board and is a long-time member of ASFPM. He is also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Society of American Military Engineers, and the American Water Resources Association. He holds an M.S. degree in Sanitary Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from The City College of New York.

David Berry is a project manager at Emerald Construction Co. He has more than seven years of experience in commercial construction project management. He earned his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering with a minor in Engineering Management from Old Dominion University.

Steven W. Miller is a managing engineer at O’Brien & Gere. With more than 29 years of professional engineering experience in the areas of water and wastewater, he will be responsible for providing the technical delivery of solutions for clients. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from Drexel University.

Robert Pattison, a former Vice President at Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) and former President of the Long Island Rail Road, died on May 12th. He was 88 and lived in Fairfax, Va. Mr. Pattison’s railroad career spanned four decades and included positions in freight and passenger rail operation, administration, engineering and the presidency of the largest commuter railroad in the United States. At PB, he was the technical director of railway engineering operations, both domestic and international, responsible for technical review for all the firm’s rail projects. Prior to joining PB in 1978, Mr. Pattison served as President and General Manager of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from 1976 to 1978. Mr. Pattison earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois.
Robert Pattison

According to information available from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, Matthew Byrne was promoted to Chief of Engineering and Construction Division May 7th, replacing William (Bill) Sorrentino Jr., who became the deputy district engineer. Mr. Sorrentino replaces Jim Thomasson, who retires this month. For the past five months, Mr. Byrne has been serving as the interim division chief. He graduated from Lowell Technological Institute, with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering. In 1998, he completed his Masters of Engineering in Civil Engineering at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. He is also a graduate of the Army Management Staff College. Mr. Byrne was first hired as a cost engineer. Six months later he transferred to become a geotechnical engineer in the geo-environmental section. He worked his way up to chief of geo-environmental section, chief of operations branch and, in 2006, he was promoted to deputy chief of technical services division, or TSD.
Matthew Byrne

Rear Admiral Katherine L. Gregory, CEC, USN, was promoted to her present rank on June 1st in a ceremony at Virginia Beach Va., making her the first female flag officer in the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC). RDML Gregory is currently chief of staff for the First Naval Construction Division in Virginia Beach, Va., which oversees about 16,000 Navy Seabees worldwide. She will report to her next assignment as Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in July. ##

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