Officer Installation and Awards Dinner

Sacramento Section Awards Dinner

By Joshua Wagner, EIT

On the 17^th of September 2009, at 6:30PM, Sacramento Section ASCE officers, members and guests gathered at the Citizen Hotel in downtown Sacramento. Approximately 65 leaders, awardees, friends and guests arrived at the hotel to commemorate the change of the Section officers and honor those who have earned awards for their outstanding service. The evening started with a short time to socialize after which Fareed Pittalwala, President, took the stage. Fareed expressed his honor to serve the Section and thanked his fellow officers for their service. He then asked those officers and Martin Farber, Past President, to join him. Martin discharged the officers and the new officers were ask forward and confirmed. The rest of the evening was devoted to the awards presentation. Approximately 17 individuals received awards and a short description of each awardee is as follows:

Charles C. Pope Award for Construction - Melissa Woodruff:

Melissa Woodruff is a Registered Civil Engineer & Construction Manager. She has successfully managed numerous transportation projects in Northern California and serves as co-chair of the Sacramento Section Construction Institute (CI). Her contributions have resulted in the early and continuing success of CI.

William H. Hall Award for Flood Control - Stein Buer:

Stein Buer is the Executive Director of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency. His leadership in providing flood protection for the thousands of residents of Sacramento is just one of many contributions made to our community and our profession.

Outstanding Civil Engineer in the Public Sector - John Bassett:

John Bassett is the Director of Engineering for the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency. John is a leader in Water Resources and Construction Management and he has successfully managed SAFCA's construction projects since 1993.

Outstanding Civil Engineer in the Private Sector - Eddie Kho:

Eddie Kho is President & CEO of Morton & Pitalo, Inc., and a Fellow in ASCE. In addition to his success as a civil engineer and business leader, Eddie has helped to improve engineering education in our community, through his work with the Advisory Committee at CSUS. He serves on the Board of his alumni chapter and supports student activities such as the ASCE Concrete Canoe and NSBE. Mr. Kho is also a state director and a scholarship foundation trustee with the Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California (CELSOC).

Outstanding Civil Engineering Student Awards-Josh Wagner & Dan Cloutier:

Josh has served ASCE well as a student as well now as a professional. Before becoming the newest Practitioner Advisor to Sacramento State ASCE and a member of the Section, Josh served as President of the Student Chapter, where he led the chapter to tremendous success on a number of programs.

Dan Cloutier, is currently serving as Student Chapter President and is following in the footsteps of Josh where he continues building a strong foundation at Sacramento State ASCE. His leadership has been recognized by many within his department and by the ASCE Region. Many in the Section’s leadership look forward to having Dan join the professional ranks upon his graduation.

Theodore D. Judah Award for Transportation - Craig Copelan:

Craig Copelan has served the Sacramento Section with distinction as its President, is currently the Section’s Chair for the Committee on Law and Legislation, and is a member of the Nominating Committee. Craig regularly contributes to the Engineer-o-gram and is a supporter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). He has made outstanding contributions to the T&DI; namely the start up of the highly successful monthly brown bag series.

Frederik W. Panhorst Award for Structures - Joyce Copelan:

Joyce Copelan has also had the distinction of serving the Sacramento Section as its President. Currently she is the Section’s Chair for the SEI committee, a member of the Budget Committee, and the Section’s Executive Director. Her tireless efforts on such programs as Engineer’s Day at the Mall, Bay Bridge boat tours, and applications for SPAG grant funding make her quite deserving of this award.

Francis N. Hveem Award for Geotechnical Engineering - Tom Blackburn:

Tom Blackburn is the co-founder and president of Blackburn Consulting Inc. (BCI). Tom has over 25 years of experience in Geotechnical Engineering and as a proactive, results oriented professional, Tom provides overall direction for BCI. His leadership is reflected in BCI being named one of the Best Civil Engineering Firms to work for, two years in a row. Tom also serves the profession well as the State President of ACEC - California (formally CELSOC).

David N. Kennedy Award for Water Resources - Pamela Creedon:

Pamela Creedon is the Executive Officer of the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board. She is a licensed Civil Engineer and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer with over 29 years of professional experience, developing and implementing water quality regulatory programs. She serves on the ASCE National Energy, Environment and Water Policy Committee, chairs the CSUS Environmental and Water Resources Advisory Committee, and on the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Chapter of the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (SCEWRI).

Joseph W. Gross Award for Humanitarian Efforts - Ilana Cohen:

Ilana Cohen is currently an environmental scientist and planner with CDM. She graduated from Brandies University with degrees in biology and environmental studies. In the past year, Ilana has served as President of the Sacramento Valley Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). In addition to her role as the president, Ms. Cohen has also served EWB as the co-project manager for The Oaks Irrigation Project in Limpopo South Africa, and is planning the EWB West Coast Regional Workshop.

Jonathon Burdette Brown Award for Education - Dr. Ali Porbaha:

Dr. Ali Porbaha has served as the Faculty Advisor for the Sacramento State ASCE Student Chapter for the past three years and in this position he has gained the esteem and respect of the chapter's members and leaders for going the extra mile. He made it his priority to meet new leaders the day they became officers and welcomed them to the team. Dr. Porbaha earned an Outstanding Faculty Advisor award at the University Level and the ASCE Region 9 Outstanding Faculty Advisor award for his service to the student chapter in 2008.

Drury Butler Award for Officer of the Year - Natalie Calderone:

Natalie spearheaded efforts to move the Sacramento Section into a more sustainable, more organized, and more effective organization. Her efforts to completely re-vamp the Section’s website, and institute the new online registration system for all of the sections events have already paid dividends. In addition to all of this, Natalie took a lead role in hosting the successful Orthotropic Bridge Conference.

Outstanding Younger Civil Engineer Award - Kristy Chapman:

Kristy currently works as a geotechnical engineer with Blackburn Consulting and has served on the board of directors of the Sacramento Section Younger Member Forum (YMF). Kristy came on board as an officer and immediately made an impact to the organization. Her energy and dedication in planning events and bringing the YMF together, including her tremendous efforts in supporting the PE review courses and countless other activities made the YMF stand out. She now takes on even more responsibility as the new chair of the Geo-Institute.

Thomas A Stanton Award for Best Event - Louay Owaidat & Larry Smith:

Louay Owaidat is the President and CEO of Magnus Pacific, a heavy Civil Construction Company. Louay has been instrumental in leading his company to the successful completion of hundreds of flood protection projects in Northern California and now serves on the Board of Directors for the Sacramento Section Construction Institute.

Larry Smith is now the current President of the Sacramento Section of ASCE. He is an ASCE Fellow, an Area Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and serves as the chair for the Sacramento Section Construction Institute. Larry has served in many capacities and is a tremendous supporter of the Section as well as being a mentor for some of its members and leaders.

Lifetime Achievement Award - Maurice Roos:

Maurice Roos is the Chief Hydrologist with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). He retired after 43 years of full time service July 2000, but continues to work part time, providing DWR with expert advice on flood forecasting, hydrology, water supply and snowmelt forecasting, and staff meteorology. For years he has been tracking climate change issues, especially as they relate to water supply in California. He received a BS degree in Civil Engineering from San Jose State University in 1957.