May 2008 Virginia Engineers On The Move

May 2008 Virginia Engineers On The Move
 

Christopher Giese, P.E., joins ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC, as Vice President and Chief Engineer for Transportation and Infrastructure projects. Mr. Giese, who has over 30 years of experience, will lead the geotechnical engineering efforts in the transportation and heavy civil sectors. He was formerly the president of the Potomac Section of ASHE.

Bury+Partners is pleased to welcome Anthony Owens, P.E. to the team as Project Engineer. He received his B.S. degree in Urban Systems Engineering from George Mason University.

Dewberry has named Jerome Strauss, P.E., PMP, vice president in the firm’s federal programs division. Mr. Strauss will provide management oversight and business development expertise for federal contracts, particularly those involving Department of Defense (DoD) programs. He previously served as a senior vice president for a construction management, environmental sciences and engineering firm. He holds a MBA degree from Northeastern University, a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering and Air Pollution Control from the University of Massachusetts, and a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University.

Anderson & Associates, Inc. would like to welcome Mark Gunderson, as Middletown Project Engineer; John Akers, P.E., as Greensboro Project Manager; and Eliot Ngwa, as Blacksburg Help Desk Technician.
The firm also congratulates Stacie Castro on her promotion to Blacksburg Accounting Manager.

Draper Aden Associates is pleased to announce Michael J. McFadden has recently joined the firm as a Field Engineer on the Geotechnical Team in the Richmond office. Mr. McFadden’s work experience includes geotechnical engineering, drilling and QA/QC responsibilities.
Barbara Hadley has been promoted to a Project Administrator for the Environmental Team in the Richmond office of Draper Aden Associates. Ms. Hadley will help facilitate project scheduling, budgeting and planning. She has been with the firm for five years.
Draper Aden Associates is also pleased to announce that Tracy Christian has joined the firm as Administrative Support in the Charlottesville office. Ms. Christian has 18 years of administrative experience and is currently pursuing a degree at Piedmont Virginia Community College.
Deborah L. Wilson has joined the firm as Administrative Support for the Environmental Team in the Richmond office. Ms. Wilson has experience in accounting, data entry and administrative support. She attended J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.

Hankins and Anderson, Inc., announces the following new employees:
Diana Landers has joined the firm’s Administrative Department. Mrs. Landers was formerly with CTI Consultants, Inc.
Ashok Aggarwal, P.E. has joined the firm’s Electrical Department. Mr. Aggarwal was formerly with Haywood & Shadford.
Michael E. Melville, E.I.T. has joined the firm’s Structural Department. Mr. Melville was previously with Century Concrete, Inc.
Fahmida Chowdhury has joined the firm’s Life Safety Department. Mrs. Chowdhury is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas.
Joseph C. Mullins has joined the firm’s Structural Department. Mr. Mullins was formerly with Orleans Homebuilders.
Jon R. Hearn has joined the firm’s Mechanical Department. Mr. Hearn was previously a member of the staff at Vansant & Gusler Consulting Engineers.
Michael W. Pearce has joined the firm’s Mechanical Department. Mr. Pearce was formerly with Mathew J. Thompson III Consulting Engineers.
Chris Welch, P.E. has joined the firm’s Electrical Department. Mr. Welch was formerly with Pace Collaborative, LLC.
Thomas W. “Win” Mitchell, Jr. has joined Hankins and Anderson’s CADD Department. Mr. Mitchell was formerly with Resource International, Ltd.

Richard O. Claus who holds the Lewis A. Hester Chair of Engineering and has joint appointments in the departments of electrical and computer engineering and materials science and engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was recently conferred with the title of “professor emeritus” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board’s quarterly meeting. Before his appointment to the Hester Chair, Dr. Claus held the Willis G. Worcester Professorship of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. He received his Bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University.
Jesus M. de la Garza, the Vecellio Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, is a newly appointed member of the National Research Council’s Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment. Prof. de la Garza recently ended a three-year tour at the National Science Foundation’s Civil and Mechanical Systems Division as program director of the Information Technology and Infrastructure Systems program.
Bernard Grossman, professor of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was conferred with the title of “professor emeritus” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board’s quarterly meeting held recently. Since 2004, Prof. Grossman has served as vice president for education and outreach at the National Institute of Aerospace located in Hampton, Va. He received his Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, and Ph.D. from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, known today as Polytechnic University.
Scott L. Hendricks, associate professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was appointed to the W.S. “Pete” White Chair for Innovation in Engineering Education by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors recently during the board’s quarterly meeting. Dr. Hendricks has served the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics for almost 30 years. He completed his Ph.D. in Engineering Physics at the University of Virginia and received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Utah.
Rakesh K. Kapania, a professor in the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was recently appointed the Norris and Laura Mitchell Professor of Aerospace Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board’s recent quarterly meeting. Prof. Kapania completed his Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering at Purdue University; his Master’s degree at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India; and his Bachelor’s degree at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh, India.
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors recently named its student representatives for the 2008-09 academic year.
Linsey M. Barker of Blacksburg, Va., a graduate student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the College of Engineering will serve as the graduate student representative. Ms. Barker, who is a Ph.D. candidate, earned her masters degree in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Ms. Barker has received numerous honors and awards for her leadership and service to others throughout her years of education.
Arlane Gordan-Bray, of Virginia Beach, Va., a junior majoring in international studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences will serve as the undergraduate student representative to the board. Ms. Gordon-Bray has been actively involved all across campus, most recently serving as a resident assistant in Virginia Tech’s theme housing community, MOSAIC (Multicultural Opportunities Social Awareness Interest Community). Ms. Gordon-Bray has also been recognized with numerous honors and awards for her contributions to co-curricular and academic activities.
Virginia Tech has named Sherri Cook as the Outstanding Graduating Senior in the College of Engineering for the 2007-2008 academic year. Ms. Cook is expected to receive a bachelor’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering in May 2008. A student in the University Honors Program, she has also been selected twice as a Morris K. Udall Foundation Scholar and as a nominee for a Rhodes/Marshall Fellowship. Ms. Cook has assumed leadership roles in numerous organizations including the Society of Environmentally Focused Students, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers. The purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding student performance in each college of the university. Students are selected on the basis of their quality credit average (3.4 or higher on a 4.0 scale) and outstanding performance in several or all of the following areas: academic achievement, extracurricular activities, leadership positions, and contributions of service to the university and/or community.
Three outstanding Virginia Tech students, each with an impressive record of undergraduate research and leadership experience, have received highly competitive Barry M. Goldwater scholarships for the 2008-09 academic year. The scholarship winners from Virginia Tech are Thao Do, a sophomore from Springfield, Va., majoring in mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering; Kevin Finelli, a junior from Yorktown, Va., double majoring in mathematics and physics in the College of Science; and David Tatum, a junior from Midlothian, Va., double majoring in chemistry in the College of Science and biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. All three winners are members of the Hillcrest Honors Community and say they plan to pursue a Ph.D. so that they can teach and conduct research at a major research university.
Through undergraduate research experiences at Virginia Tech, Harvard University, andthe Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C., Ms. Do says he has developed an interest in nanotechnology because of its potential applications in the biomedical field. She has focused her research on developing robust microscopic channels and particles. She co-authored a journal article and delivered a presentation to the American Physics Society.
Mr. Finelli, who is a member of the Society of Physics Students and the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics National Honor Society, has conducted undergraduate research in Virginia Tech’s Department of Physics and Department of Mathematics as well as the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Va. His physics research is a part of the QWeak collaboration, an experiment that will be the first precision measurement of the weak charge of the proton.
A member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Mr. Tatum has studied the trafficking of sulfur in bacteria with the Department of Biochemistry and, more recently, molecule-based magnets with the Department of Chemistry. This semester, Mr. Tatum is not only continuing his research pursuits but also teaching two recitation sections of a general chemistry course.
Understanding the dynamics of large, chaotic systems, such as weather and climate, is the goal of Virginia Tech College of Engineering researcher Mark Paul, who has received a $400,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award to support his research. The five-year CAREER grant awarded to Dr. Paul, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for creative junior faculty considered to be future leaders in their academic fields. Dr. Paul joined the Virginia Tech faculty in 2004 after holding post-doctoral positions at the California Institute of Technology and Duke University. He has served visiting appointments at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, England, and at the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He completed his Ph.D. and master’s degree in mechanical engineering and his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, all at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Leigh McCue, an assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, has received a $410,000 Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation and a $300,000 Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award from the Office of Naval Research. Both are among the nation’s most prestigious grants awarded to creative young researchers who have the potential to become leaders in their fields. Dr. McCue, who joined the Virginia Tech faculty in 2005, was selected as an American Society for Engineering Education/Office of Naval Research summer faculty researcher for 2005 and 2006. She received a College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Outstanding New Assistant Professor in 2007. Dr. McCue completed her Ph.D. and master’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering, as well as another master’s in aerospace engineering, at the University of Michigan, and earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University.
Two doctoral candidates have been selected as the 2008 Graduate Man of the Year and Graduate Woman of the Year in recognition of their outstanding academic accomplishments and their commitment to service within the community. The recipients of the awards are Osama Marzouk, originally from Egypt, and LaChelle Waller, of Chester, Va., respectively.
Mr. Marzouk came to Virginia Tech in 2003 as a student in the science and mechanics PhD. program after earning his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Cairo University. He received highest recommendations for the award from his professors due to his remarkable performance in research and his service in the Virginia Tech and New River Valley communities. Mr. Marzouk’s research focuses on vortex-induced vibrations in order to find ways to reduce the vibration of offshore structures to increase the lifespan of the buildings. He has published or presented more than 25 articles and papers in both American and international professional journals and conferences, is a reviewer for a number of journals and technical conferences, and is a member of numerous professional organizations and honor societies.
LaChelle Waller, of Chester, Va., is a student in Virginia Tech’s genetics, bioinformatics, and computational biology Ph.D. program who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry in 2001 from Chowan University. She is working with the Tyler research group at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute on a project designed to identify the interactions among plant and pathogen genes that determine quantitative disease resistance in soybean. She has held leadership positions in the Black Graduate Student Organization and the Graduate Student Assembly, and is currently vice president of Virginia Tech’s genetics, bioinformatics, and computational biology student organization.

Jeff Frazier, Senior Project Hydrogeologist, has joined Golder’s Richmond office to manage projects such as environmental site assessments, hydrogeologic site characterizations, environmental compliance monitoring programs, and remediation design and implementation. Mr. Frazier’s technical expertise is characterizing and remediating groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents using the EPA Triad approach to enhance data representativeness. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources from the University of the South, and went on to receive his Master’s degree in Geology from West Virginia University. He brings over seven years of professional experience to Golder and extensive experience in project management.

Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) announces Charles K. O’Connell, P.E., as an associate of the firm. This designation places him as one of the firm’s senior leaders and a member of the employee ownership team. Mr. O’Connell is a senior transportation engineer in VHB’s Vienna, Va. office. He has 23 years of diversified transportation engineering experience. He joined VHB in 2001 and holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in Civil Engineering; minor: Biology and Fisheries Management/Forestry and Wildlife from Virginia Tech. He is currently the president for the Potomac Section of the American Society of Highway Engineers.

Timmons Group has recently announced that Stuart Martin is a Project Engineer III with the firm.

Hurd & Obenchain, Inc. (H&O)would like to congratulate John B. Obenchain, Jr., P.E., Vice President and CFO, for receiving his designation as a LEEDâ„¢ Accredited Professional and Randy Spencer, RCDD, Information Technology Department Head and a valuable stockholder of the firm, for receiving his designation as a Professional Engineer.
H&O would also like to welcome Jason Taylor to the firm as a new Electrical Engineer and Chris Smith as a new Plumbing and Fire Protection Engineer. Mr. Taylor comes to H&O with an A.S. degree in Electrical Engineering Technology and a B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from West Virginia University Institute of Technology. Prior to joining H&O, he was served as a Project Manager with MC Dean. Mr. Smith was previously with MEP Designs of Manassas, Va. as a Plumbing Designer.

Froehling and Robertson, Inc. is pleased to announce that Heather Monk is a corporate marketing assistant and Mary Beth Webb is an environmental specialist with the firm.

Edmond D. “Ed” Alizadeh, P.E., Esq. is the new president of ASFE/The Best People on Earth, a not-for-profit association of “earth-engineering” firms. Mr. Alizadeh is the 38th individual to serve as ASFE’s president and chair of the group’s board of directors. Mr. Alizadeh is president and CEO of Geotechnology, Inc., a professional engineering firm headquartered in St. Louis, MO, with additional offices in Illinois and Kansas. Mr. Alizadeh is a petroleum engineering graduate of the University of Tulsa and he earned his juris doctorate degree at St. Louis University School of Law.

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Board of Directors recently approved the nomination of Alexi Carli, CSP, of Roswell, GA, to serve as ASSE Foundation Trustee. She will begin her three-year term on July 1st, 2008. Ms. Carli is a Certified Safety Professional and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. She has served as a corporate health and safety manager for Atlanta, GA-based UPS for more than eight years. She has spent the last 20 years in health and safety at UPS in the district, regional, and corporate level. Her current job responsibilities at UPS as international health and safety manager include global policy and training program development, organizational health and safety strategy, injury and auto crash prevention planning and crisis management.
ASSE announced the results of their annual elections and Board of Director members for the 2008-09 year.
Succeeding Michael W. Thompson, CSP, of Houston, TX, as ASSE president for the 2008-09 year will be Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM. Succeeding Mr. Brown as president-elect is C. Christopher Patton, CSP, of St. Louis, MO. Recently elected to serve as ASSE senior vice president is Darryl C. Hill, CSP, of Auburn Hills, MI. Elected to serve as ASSE vice president for finance is James D. Smith, M.S., CSP. George W. Pearson, CSP, ARM, was elected to succeed Mr. Smith as the ASSE vice president for the practices and standards council. Running unopposed in their regions for a two-year term as region vice presidents are James G. Gallup, P.E., CSP, for Region II, and James H. Morris, III, for Region VI. Michael Belcher, CSP, of Atlanta, GA, was elected to serve as Region IV vice president. Robert E. McClay, CSP, of Indiana, PA was elected to serve as Region VIII vice president. Continuing on the board are Vice President – Council on Professional Affairs Thomas W. Lawrence, Jr., P.E., CSP, of St. Louis, MO; Vice President – Council on Professional Development Richard A. Pollock, CSP, of Minneapolis, MN; Region I Vice President Terrie S. Norris, CSP, ARM, CPSI; Region III Vice President Gregory L. Smith, CSP, of Austin, TX; Region V Vice President James L. Weaver, CSP, of Kansas City, MO; and Region VII Vice President Tanis J. Marquette, CSP, ROHT, CHMM. Elected to serve as area directors are Region II, Area A — Harold L. Gribow, M.S., CSP, ARM; Region IV, Mississippi/Alabama – R. Steven Willis, CSP; Region IV, North Florida/Georgia – Pamela B. Perrich, CIH; Region VIII – Empire State – Arthur J. Dube, OHST; Region VIII – New England – Thomas J. Nolan III, P.E., CSP.

Vela Systems, a developer of mobile field software for the AECO (Architecture-Engineering-Contractor-Owner) industry, has appointed Brian Clarke and Joe Katusha as sales managers for the firms newly opened New York and Mid-Atlantic office. Both possess extensive experience in construction and related technology and are known as veteran managers within the area’s AECO community. Mr. Clarke and Mr. Katusha will facilitate customer support.
Mr. Clarke was previously regional sales director for Autodesk, where he was recognized for outstanding achievements in client service and sales. Mr. Katusha was formerly regional sales manager for Catalyst, Inc. He has also been recognized for outstanding client service and sales,focusing much of his efforts on technology solutions for the construction industry. ##

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