ENR MidAtlantic’s impressive 2024 Top Young Professionals group includes five rising leaders who have also been selected to be part of the ENR national Top 20 Under 40.

The regional winners being recognized as part of the national group are: Rod Jones, manager of Holder Construction Co.; Victoria Jones, project delivery director of Transurban; Lili Liang, deputy director of the Maryland State Highway Administration; Ben Nichols, president of Harkins Builders; and Sara Sadek, corporate QA/QC director of PJ Dick.

ENR will recognize the national-level awardees at the Emerging Leaders Forum set for March 18-20 in Chicago. The event is an opportunity for all industry professionals to learn more about construction sector challenges and gain insights on career development. It will include expert presenters, panel discussions and focused workshops on critical industry topics as well as many opportunities for networking with peers, management, clients and specialists. To learn more about the conference, visit https://www.enr.com/emerging-leaders-forum. But before those five leaders could join the national winners, they had to compete at the regional level. Narrowing this year’s MidAtlantic honorees to 20 was no easy task. ENR thanks the industry judges for undertaking the task of diligently reviewing 45 nominees submitted to the contest this year before selecting the winners.

The judges were: Tauhira Ali, executive director of industry innovation at the National Electrical Contractors Association—and a member of ENR’s 2023 national Top 20 Under 40 group—and Susan McCann, business development manager for alternative delivery at Allan Myers Inc.

Each candidate’s contribution to the industry and to colleagues and their community were determining factors considered by the judges. ENR strongly encourages anyone who applied but did not win to resubmit next year if they still meet the age requirement. Be sure to save a copy of your entry and add the applicant’s most recent accomplishments. Read on to learn more about the ENR MidAtlantic 2024 Top Young Professionals.

Sara Blascovich
A specialist in environmental permitting and agency engagement
39, Resources Business Group Manager /Northeast Environmental Sciences and Planning Lead
HDR
Mechanicsburg, Pa.

Pennsylvania’s ambitious effort to replace nearly 560 structurally deficient bridges in just three years might have floundered had it not been for Blascovich. Thanks to her technical and project leadership skills as environmental permitting and agency relations lead, the program successfully secured the necessary permits to keep the multifaceted construction effort on schedule. To help HDR achieve similar success in other infrastructure renewal projects, Blascovich helped roll out corporate guidance for engaging regulators to improve permitting delivery on a location-by-location basis.

Blascovich has held leadership roles in several professional and trade organizations, beginning with the Society of Women Environmental Professionals while she was still in college. Now chairperson of SWEP’s Harrisburg chapter, she leads STEM education activities and encourages college students to attend seminars. Blascovich also has participated in Shippensburg University’s career development program, assisting new graduates with résumés, mock job interviews and discovering career opportunities. As a member of the Harrisburg Junior League, she also helps area women and children living in poverty.

Darren D’Achille
An agent of change for his company and profession
39, Associate Vice President – Aviation
Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson Inc.
Philadelphia

D’Achille has extensive experience with airfield and airside projects. He regularly draws on that experience in presentations to a range of audiences to help advance the quality and functionality of aviation facilities. D’Achille also works to keep abreast of advancements in quality processes and business technology. He has attended various project manager training courses that serve to train JMT’s staff and provide feedback from the firm’s emerging leaders. Most recently, D’Achille tested new accounting programs to transition invoice processing from a paper-based system to a method that is fully virtual.

Similarly, he has taken on technical projects to test new hardware and software options for the storage and management of design files. D’Achille also is an avid participant in the ACE Mentor Program and works to share technical and soft skills to aspiring architects, construction professionals and engineers in the Philadelphia area. He leads JMT’s involvement in many March of Dimes fundraising events, including PHL5K on the Runway, a 5K run/walk on the airfield at Philadelphia International Airport.

Jonathan R. Eberle
Lifelong learner shares knowledge with colleagues at all levels
36, Associate Vice President, Structural Discipline Lead
AECOM
Mechanicsburg, Pa.

Eberle seeks to help teams around him succeed and advance the industry. While still in graduate school, he co-wrote a book that aids in preparing students for the PE exam. He also authored a conference paper on bridging requirements for steel joints.

As Eberle has broadened his knowledge, he has become more involved in several complex bridge projects, including long-span and movable structures. He has led and worked on projects with leading-edge approaches, including the use of ultra-high-performance concrete, accelerated bridge construction concepts and alternative project delivery models.

Eberle has volunteered at Junior Achievement’s STEM Summit Program to assist students with performing experiments aimed at increasing their interest in technical fields. He also volunteers as a proposal-grader and judge at the Delaware Dept. of Transportation’s annual student bridge competition. The Bucknell University graduate also remains closely engaged with his alma mater’s civil engineering program, serving as an adviser for senior design projects.

Katterinne Fleming
Fostering relationships to improve asset management practices
39, Senior Asset Management Consultant
Kennedy Jenks Consultants
Fairfax, Va.

Listening—perhaps the most valuable service a consultant can offer—has been fundamental throughout Fleming’s career. By working with water systems operations and maintenance staff members and focusing on their concerns, she discovered how much maintenance was reactive and crisis-driven. That led to the development of new risk management practices that now help utilities proactively tackle problems and make improvements before failures occur.

By connecting with people to get buy-in on complex projects and building relationships with frontline staff, she helps initiate long-lasting change by envisioning holistic solutions with full consideration of end users who are responsible for implementing and sustaining assets and programs. A native of Peru, Fleming mentors young people who may not always see themselves reflected in technical careers. While working in the San Diego area, she served as a STEAM Club mentor and coordinated efforts with a local high school and other agencies to conduct an asset management project that allowed students to receive real world experience, accelerating their skills before joining the workforce.

Rod Jones
A passionate innovator for his profession and community
32, Manager
Holder Construction Co.
Herndon, Va.

A specialist in managing complex data center projects, Jones is driven by his love of construction and his goal of diversifying the profession. To broaden awareness of opportunities in construction management, particularly among students in search of rewarding careers, Jones created Rod the Builder, a lifestyle brand that offers brief informational pieces shared across social media platforms. He also has forged strong ties between the industry and his alma mater, Morgan State University. Besides recruiting the school’s top engineering talent to Holder Construction, Jones is an adjunct professor and member of the advisory board for Morgan State’s construction management program. He has applied similar initiative to help his community. He founded Donation Thru Celebration, a local charity funded in part by donations received at annual parties. Since the first DTC event in 2017, Jones and his team have supported nearly 600 young people in foster care and more than 1,100 families in foster prevention programs. DTC has also organized food and coat drives, large-scale volunteer efforts and youth mentorship.

Victoria Jones
Fostering engagement among project and community teams
38, Project Delivery Director
Transurban
McLean, Va.

In her career, Jones has strived to apply innovative ways to enhance mobility. She has played roles in such high-profile projects as the $544-million expansion of the Interstate-495/Capital Beltway Express Lanes from the Dulles Toll Road to the American Legion Bridge. In that 2.5-mile, finance-design-build-operate-maintain effort, Jones drew on her technical and management experience. The Beltway is familiar territory for Jones, who also was a project engineer for the initial $2-billion, 14-mile Express Lanes project. Farther north, she worked as the deputy area manager for the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge across the Hudson River. Jones successfully managed a team responsible for self-performed and subcontracted work totaling $320 million. Her focus on project design, construction services, adherence to schedules and risk management contributed to the project’s overall success. Jones’ advocacy for field engineers includes training and mentoring so they can perform at a high level. Her involvement in the Ivy Hill Community Garden reflects her dedication to promoting sustainable and communal practices as well as creating a sense of belonging in the community. Jones also participates in volunteer events on behalf of Transurban, such as the gala for EduTutorVA, a program that aims to close achievement gaps in Title 1 schools.

Dustin A. Kapson
Using innovation to safeguard the environment
38, Vice President - Site Assessment and Remediation
AKRF Inc.
Philadelphia

Kapson takes pride in analyzing complex project scenarios and providing efficient, sustainable solutions that clients trust. He provides expertise on environmental assessment and remediation projects for public and private clients in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Kapson also enjoys collaborating with AKRF’s leaders as a member of the firm’s innovation committee and as a co-leader of the site assessment and remediation group’s data management team. He strives to harness big data to optimize remedial performance, streamline consulting operations and promote the health of the built and natural environments. Kapson has a strong interest in mentoring newcomers to the industry. He developed Foundation Forum, an in-house training and learning program that has served AKRF’s young professionals for a decade. Kapson also shares his knowledge and experience through the Society of Military Engineers’ Philadelphia Post and with neighbors and colleagues concerned about potential environmental health related issues in their homes and communities. A former Division I scholar-athlete at Bucknell University, Kapson offers hands-on coaching to neighborhood youth.

Stephen J. Klocko
Applying military leadership skills to infrastructure efforts
39, Engineering Services During Construction Manager
HDR
Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Army and Army National Guard provided Klocko with the opportunity to serve his country and to gain experience in construction and leadership. A stint as an operations supervisor set the path for Klocko’s career in alternative project delivery because it required frequent team adjustments to adapt to change. It also helped develop his skills in organization and strategy. Today, Klocko navigates complex construction projects to deliver results within rigorous budget, schedule and safety requirements. His work includes the $523-million North Shore Connector in Pittsburgh; the $1-billion Pennsylvania Rapid Bridge Replacement Project; and the $3.6-billion expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia.

Klocko is also active in Network Group, a community that helps connect veterans, military family members and nonveterans. In his role as the group’s leadership chair, Klocko aims to help in providing mentoring, education and support so that veterans can successfully make the transition from military to civilian life.

Stephen Kraus
An adaptable leader skilled at handling a variety of challenges
37, Associate/Project Manager
STV
Douglassville, Pa.

Kraus’ passion for engineering and problem-solving started at an early age, leading him to pursue a degree in civil engineering at the U.S. Military Academy and a 10-year stint in the U.S. Army. A pivotal assignment led Kraus to the Army Corps of Engineers, where he was a project engineer and project manager in the New England District. During that time, he deployed to Puerto Rico in support of relief operations following Hurricane Maria in 2017. He performed emergency stabilization work at the Guajataca Dam, supporting a unified effort by various organizations to prevent its breach and preserve the supply of drinking water to a quarter-million people.

Kraus now applies that experience to a wide range of projects, from the design of new access and safety structures at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard to a major 60,000-sq-ft upgrade for a national cancer research laboratory. He also led the design of a 30,000-sq-ft, dual-bay flight hangar facility that is designed to accommodate CH-47 Chinook or MV-22 Osprey aircraft.

Lili Liang
Dedicated to sharing her expertise with others
38, Deputy Director
Maryland DOT State Highway Administration
Hanover, Md.

Examples of Liang’s extensive technical and leadership experience can be found across Maryland’s transportation network. Liang has managed a variety of major multiyear design and construction efforts as chief of SHA’s traffic engineering design division. She also developed a comprehensive divisionwide training program on project management and delivery that has helped improve agency processes and outcomes. Liang led the effort to update traffic-related sections of Maryland’s construction and materials standards, ensuring that they were aligned with the latest regulations and industry best practices. Liang recognizes the importance of supporting underrepresented groups. She is involved in the Chinese American Civil Engineers Society and GalTogether Women Power, where she shares her career and life experiences to inspire and empower other women and members of minority groups. Liang is also active in several industry organizations, including the Institute of Transportation Engineers. She has contributed to ITE initiatives such as the transportation safety council webinar, annual meeting abstract review, the student to younger member transition task force and the organization’s “sandbox” planning and design competitions for students.

Erik A. Mills
An educator and mentor for clients and colleagues
39, Senior Project Manager
W.M. Jordan Co.
Newport News, Va.

A college internship with W.M. Jordan instilled in Mills a love of construction that has grown since joining the company full time in 2007. More than half of his work has been for Newport News Shipbuilding, overseeing building and infrastructure projects that allow the U.S. Navy and companies to design, construct, overhaul, repair and maintain naval vessels and commercial ships. In one multibuilding effort, Mills provided insights that helped shipyard officials better understand design-build project delivery. The project’s success led the shipyard to make design-build its preferred delivery method. He is a graduate of LEAD Peninsula, a community and civic immersion program led by the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce designed to improve communication and cooperation among private, public and nonprofit sectors. He is also a graduate of the Family Business Institute’s Contractor Boot Camp, a program focused on developing leadership, management skills and finance and business knowledge for construction professionals. Mills is also a longtime volunteer at the Food Bank of the Virginia Peninsula.

Ben Nichols
A leader advancing his company and industry
38, President
Harkins Builders
Columbia, Md.

From his U.S. military service in Afghanistan to heading a major regional construction firm, Nichols’ leadership path reflects his skills, dedication to his teams and commitment to reach positive outcomes. Set to become Harkins Builders’ CEO this year, Nichols is spearheading the company’s five-year strategic plan, prioritizing people, growth and capital reinvestment. One such program that encourages employee-owners to be innovators has funded nine projects valued at a total of nearly $200,000. The program also is viewed as helping to change the way Harkins does business. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Nichols has applied his leadership training and skills to the Society of American Military Engineers’ Mid-Maryland Post. As director and programs chair, he helped the post triple the number of completed programs and win a SAME national award as one of the fastest-growing posts in the country. His tenure as post president included more than 20 programs and a highly successful scholarship fundraising effort.

Robyn Niss
Preparing future generations through quality educational facilities
39, Vice President/Civil Engineer
Kimley-Horn
Virginia Beach, Va.

As a college senior, Niss helped build a new school for a small community in Bolivia. The experience sparked a passion for educational facilities design that has led to dozens of successful K-12 projects of all sizes and scopes. Niss’ expertise has opened doors to related education design endeavors, such as bus parking lots, running tracks, stormwater management, environmental consulting, landscape architecture and land use planning. Niss shares her experience by mentoring Kimley-Horn employees and through her work with the Association for Learning Environments, an interdisciplinary group of professionals focused on enhancing student experiences. She serves on the board of the Virginia Beach Education Foundation, which funds innovative learning programs in the city’s public schools She also has provided insights to the Chesapeake Natural Event Mitigation Advisory Committee on the effectiveness of various natural hazard mitigation strategies. Niss’ dedication to diversity in the technical fields includes participation in the Work Like A Girl career fair in Chesapeake, Va.

Carrie Parker
Applying skills and service to support future generations
34, Associate Vice President
CannonDesign
Arlington, Va.

In just 10 years of professional practice, Parker has made a mark on her firm and the industry. A specialist in higher education student life projects, Parker understands the important role such facilities play in supporting the whole student—mentally, physically and spiritually. With her work on more than 500,000 sq ft of built and designed space, she has shared her experience and insight with colleagues nationwide about the future of student life buildings and how colleges and universities can best respond to their changing demographics. Service connects the phases of Parker’s life, from a Girl Scout Gold Award recipient to a top graduate from Oklahoma State University’s College of Architecture, Engineering and Technology for completing more than 1,000 hours of volunteer service. She has served on CannonDesign’s NEXT Council, a group of employees charged with acting as catalysts for the firm’s evolution. Parker also led planning for a variety of community outreach events. She represented Virginia on the American Institute of Architects’ national Young Architects Forum and volunteered with several groups affiliated with the architectural profession.

Sara Sadek
Inspiring innovation to achieve quality compliance with practical solutions
36, Director of Corporate QA/QC
PJ Dick
Pittsburgh

Sadek has extensive experience in the MidAtlantic region in constructing high-performance, watertight building enclosures. In her role as director of quality assurance and quality control at PJ Dick, she has applied her technical expertise, problem-solving abilities and collaborative leadership to cultivate a culture on par with the company’s award-winning safety program. Her efforts include a Quality Starts With Me campaign to recognize employee achievements and a firmwide Built on Quality Works-Op developed around the plan-do-check-act model of continuous improvement. Sadek has also organized introductory, hands-on courses for various trades and curated videos demonstrating best practices for material installation and testing. An avid hiker who once spent months traversing New Zealand’s famed Te Araroa trail, Sadek’s volunteer work is focused on the outdoors. Along with participating in tree-planting activities with the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden and Tree Pittsburgh, she led a team in the Pittsburgh Garbage Olympics, an annual neighborhood competition to see who can pick up the most trash.

Nathan Scalla
Driven to make a positive impact in the community
34, Project Executive
Clark Construction
McLean, Va.

Five years after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Scalla is now in remission thanks to fundraising for research and treatment. The pandemic put a hold for a while on in-person fundraising events, such as 5K races, but Scalla led a social media campaign for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) that generated enough contributions to fund more than a year of critical research for a groundbreaking treatment approach. Small wonder that Scalla was named the LLS National Capital Area chapter’s Man of the Year in 2020. He remains active in the chapter’s annual Light The Night event and other ongoing efforts to support patient services and research.

Scalla brings the same level of commitment to improving communities through infrastructure modernization projects. His leadership on the milestone $430-million Back River Wastewater Treatment and Headworks Improvements helped to successfully deliver Baltimore’s first construction manager at-risk venture. He currently is leading a project to convert an abandoned Loudoun County, Va., quarry into a reservoir for drinking water.

Melissa Shea
Fulfilling the responsibility of minimizing environmental impact
39, Principal and Project Manager-Structures Group
Walter P Moore
Washington, D.C.

As a leader in structural engineering and design, Shea contributes to reducing the built environment’s carbon footprint while transferring owners’ visions from model to reality. She also plays a crucial role in driving Walter P Moore’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Her insights and expertise were highly valued as a contributing author for a nationally recognized white paper on work flexibility strategies for recruitment and retention.

Shea mentors fellow employees and leads a working group dedicated to developing innovative industry tools—such as machine-learning software—to enhance efficiency and optimize decision-making processes.

In addition to participating in the Structural Engineers Association’s Metropolitan Washington chapter, Shea has served as a Girl Scout leader and camp cookout volunteer. She has also served as a volunteer counselor at Ecumenical Community Helping Others, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing assistance to individuals and families facing short-term emergencies.

Evann Smith
Bringing AI insights to the construction industry
38, Digital Solutions Lead
Bechtel Corp.
Reston, Va.

Smith has moved the industry’s use of artificial intelligence forward in advanced work packaging and by creating insights that drive tangible business results on construction projects. As digital solutions lead for Bechtel’s manufacturing and technology global business unit, Smith is pioneering a new cross-functional approach to technology and digital integration for engineering, procurement and construction efforts. Smith’s skills were demonstrated early in their career with Bechtel, developing a tool for the Riyadh Metro that consolidated all engineering comments from different data sources. They also implemented a document-management system with intelligent search that could organize all historical comments, understand responses and create transparency into the status. Smith’s tool increased the comments’ closure rate by a significant margin and remains in use today.

A leader inside and outside the company and encouraging and sharing a diverse range of experiences, Smith embraces the responsibility of being a role model and inspiration to other members of the queer community in Bechtel, the construction industry and the community.

Thomas Wagner
A leader in advancing mobility and social justice
38, Associate
Arup
Washington, D.C.

From his days as an engineering student at Bucknell University, Wagner has sought to make a positive contribution to mobility, including collaborating with a professor to create a semester-long mass transportation course. In his professional career, Wagner has contributed to advancing many rail planning, design and construction projects, including Connect NEC, a 15-year, shared action plan for allocating $24 billion in federal funding to revitalize Amtrak’s 457-mile Northeast Corridor. His efforts have included contributing to the development of a custom digital interface that automates the process of coordinating and prioritizing the expansive program of infrastructure projects.

Wagner’s community work includes participating in three overseas projects for buildOn, an organization that constructs primary school blocks for communities in the Global South. He also co-founded a Baltimore restaurant and award-winning food truck that caters various events with a seasonal menu of wood-fired pizzas served out of the back of a 1949 Dodge truck. Wagner and his co-owners regularly join forces with a local brewery to raise money for more than 55 local community development, social justice and sustainability-based organizations.

Kim Waters
Using creative transportation approaches to improve the quality of life in communities
36, Senior Associate
Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson Inc.
Philadelphia

During her 15-year career, Waters has led projects ranging from large, multifaceted highway reconstruction efforts to smaller streetscape designs. Her passion for applying creative transportation approaches to bring about positive community change is evidenced by her work on the American Street Improvements Project in Philadelphia. The project called for preserving and enhancing features of an industrial corridor to support residential and light commercial growth as well as accommodate multiple mobility modes. Waters and her team crafted a road diet strategy that created space for the city’s first median-sited bike lanes and stormwater retention basins while still meeting the requirements of industrial and bus operations.

Waters actively participates in industry associations and takes advantage of every opportunity to help develop young engineers. In addition to mentoring JMT’s younger staff members, she assists the firm’s learning and development team with creating career frameworks, including developing a career track for engineers who wish to hone their technical skills. Waters also participates in Back On My Feet, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping homeless Philadelphians move their lives forward. n