The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Reston, Va., has named 10 civil engineers as distinguished members for 2009, the group’s highest accolade in recognition of achievement in a branch of engineering, it says.
SOTO Roger M. Soto has joined Odell Associates, a Charlotte, N.C., architecture firm, as president and director of design, leading its U.S. and overseas practices. Based in Richmond, Va., he was design director and principal of architect HOK, Houston, since 1990. Stone Hill Contracting, Doylestown, Pa., has named James J. Lipo vice president of construction management. Most recently, he was southeast manager of construction operations for a unit of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. He also had managed water and wastewater construction operations for CDM Constructors Inc. in Phoenix. Clifford Eby, former acting administrator of the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, has
Engineer and professor emeritus Alan G. Davenport, a pioneer in wind engineering for buildings and bridges, died on July 19 at age 76 after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Models for many of the world’s tallest and longest structures ended up in the hands and wind tunnel of Davenport, one of the first to use wind tunnels in the design of structures. An engineering professor at the University of Western Ontario, he founded its renowned Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory in 1965. He consulted on the designs of New York City’s World Trade Center, Chicago’s Sears Tower, Toronto’s CN
The National Academy of Construction (NAC), Austin, Texas, has elected 10 construction executives to become members in 2009, recognized for past and expected future contributions to the industry.
HATOUM PBS&J International Inc., a unit of The PBSJ Corp., named Walid Hatoum president and international business director. He returns to the Tampa-based engineer from his role as division manager for the water and infrastructure unit of Parsons Corp. He was also a division manager for that firm’s international unit. Hatoum worked for PBS&J from 1986 to 1990. Lee Elder has joined The Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge, as senior vice president of business development in its power group. He was vice president of global sales and marketing for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a unit of General Electric Co. He
ZIMMERMAN Bernard Zimmerman, a co-founder of the architecture department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, a 35-year faculty member and a leading practitioner in Southern California, died on June 4 in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 79. Zimmerman, who helped start the department in the early 1970s, was a “vocal critic and demanding instructor to many,” says faculty colleague Kip Dickson. He was president of his own Los Angeles firm, Zimmerman Architects and Planners, and a partner in several other locally based companies. Zimmerman co-founded the Los Angeles Institute of Architecture and Design and helped launch its
ENR Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief Tom Ichniowski caught up with former U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta on June 29 to ask him what Congress may do to fix the Highway Trust Fund's problems and how the battle over reauthorizing highway and transit programs might be resolved. Mineta led DOT from 2001 to July, 2006 under President George W. Bush, and then moved to Hill & Knowlton, a public relations and lobbying firm, where he is vice-chairman. Related Links: Jockeying Continues on Highway Bills Dueling Plans Shake Transport Outlook MINETA How are things going to play out with the Highway
EASTIN Keith Eastin has joined The Louis Berger Group, Morristown, N.J., as vice president of strategic planning for the firm’s work at global U.S. Defense Dept. installations. He most recently was assistant U.S. Army secretary for installations and environment, directing military construction, base closure, environmental and other programs at 150 Army installations around the world. Eastin also was a senior consultant for the U.S. State Dept. in Iraq. Black & Veatch, Overland Park, Kan., named Gary Erickson director of business development in its federal services division. He had been president of federal services for engineer-contractor MWH Americas, Broomfield, Colo. Erickson
Elaine K. Dezenski, the managing director of the new Global Security Initiative for INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization, is currently president of the Women’s Transportation Seminar. Her career path has been an unusual journey from transportation to global security. She worked for the rail giant Siemens in marketing and business development, then joined the Federal Transit Administration in 1999. She was working as a Brookings Institution fellow when the attacks of September 11, 2001 occurred and that helped spur her return her to public service. She joined the Transportation Security Administration and became director of cargo and supply chain
Earlier this month the Obama Administration breathed new life into the FutureGen experimental “clean coal” electric generating plant in Mattoon, Ill., that would trap and store carbon dioxide emissions. The administration pledged $1 billion to its development. Initially introduced by the Bush administration in 2003 as a means to develop low-emissions coal-fired power plants, the project was dropped early last year due to cost overruns. FutureGen Alliance, a consortium of coal and utility companies working to build the plan, estimate the project will cost approximately $2.4 billion to complete. A decision on whether to go forward with construction on the
RSS
