Trying to make the impossible possible is the kind of challenge that Daniel Groves likes. His latest success: Directing development and launching a national labor supply/demand forecasting model for the nonprofit Construction Workforce Development Center.

The Missouri Dept. of Transportation’s request for proposals was challenging: The agency wanted 11.5 miles of Interstate 64 through St. Louis redesigned, upgraded and modernized, with 30 bridges and overpasses rebuilt; it wanted the project completed in four years, and it wanted it all for $420 million.

Evan Thomas knows full well the growing pains of building something new in the developing world from his work with Engineers Without Borders-USA while an engineering undergrad at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Veteran academic Frederick R. Steiner is a consensus builder. For the Sustainable Sites Initiative, he brought together myriad, diverse interests in all areas of design and construction to develop the world’s first green rating system devoted to landscapes.

As onshore oil yields decline and near-shore fields are tapped out, oil development is pushing into ever-deeper waters. The engineering challenges of deepwater production demand innovative thinking and vastly increase the risks of opening new fields.

After the collapse of the financial ­markets in early September 2008, New York City’s construction industry needed something to keep it breathing.

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.

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.

U.S. engineering students and professionals are taking their skills and enthusiasm around the world through EWB-USA.

Evan Thomas and Max Gold were two of Bernard Amadei’s earliest disciples in Engineers Without Borders-USA as undergrads at the University of Col­­orado-Boulder. Now they are taking their EWB-USA site experiences and soon-to-be-earned graduate engineering degrees in a new direction to build sustainability and long-term earning power in developing communities that once could only hope for philanthropy. Photo: Manna Energy Foundation Manna’s Gold (above) with Rwanda site colleagues; Thomas and client (below) Photo: EWB-USA Related Links: 2008 Award Of Excellence Winner: Bernard Amade Engineers Go Global Looking for a Home Depot in Veron, Dominican Republic Thomas and Gold are leveraging