NSPE's 2008 Representative to the New Faces
Of Engineering

Colwyn Sayers, P.E., is an engineer diver for Stantec Consulting Services Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. A diving helmet, fins, and a wetsuit are his typical dress code as he performs underwater structural bridge inspections for transportation clients throughout the Southeast and Midwest. He has examined and reported on the structural integrity of more than 70 bridges for state Departments of Transportation in just the past year. In sometimes murky waters beneath a bridge, he checks for undermining, cracks, section loss, or other signs of deterioration that may cause instability, or even the collapse of a bridge. Colwyn earned his bachelor's in civil engineering from the United States Coast Guard Academy then completed his master's degree at the University of Kentucky. He is proud to use his life-long passion for the water and his specialized training to make the transportation system safer for the public.

NSPE's Featured Nominees

Christopher J. Bender, Ph.D., P.E., is a coastal engineer for Taylor Engineering Inc. in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works on issues such as beach recession and hurricane inundation. He has helped to develop new federal flood insurance guidelines in the Pacific and designed a beach and dune that protect coastal structures from hurricanes. Currently, Christopher is part of a select team studying post-Hurricane Katrina storm surge, developing water level and nearshore wave estimates to properly redevelop New Orleans and coastal Louisiana. Results of this study have already been applied by several state and federal agencies. He received his bachelor's degree in ocean engineering from the University of Rhode Island and received his master's and doctoral degrees in coastal engineering while studying under a University Alumni Fellowship at the University of Florida.

Captain Stephen D. Leggiero, U.S. Air Force, P.E., is a Global Hawk project engineer with the United States Air Force, recently forging a 57 engineer flight test team, which established the first Global Hawk modeling and simulation based test plan 31 weeks ahead of schedule, saving the program $452 million. His other work for the Global Hawk UAV has included conducting the first wet runway landing, raising cross-wind limits for the aircraft, and executing the first Global Hawk Block 20 first flight. Stephen received his bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy and holds two master's degrees-one in mechanical engineering from Wright State University and the other in systems engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Erin Baker Wagoner, E.I.T., a project engineer with Fuller, Mossbarger, Scott & May Engineers Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky, provides water resource and stormwater management compliance support services to municipal and state government clients. This work has included development and implementation of stormwater quality plans, ordinance assessments and operations audits, and working with elected officials and public stakeholders. Erin also developed, and now manages, the University of Louisville engineering school's involvement in International Service Learning, an educational curriculum where students assist developing communities in Belize. Over the past few years, she has worked specifically to bring clean water to Gales Point, Belize, assisting the community in testing water quality, data collection, repairing water distribution systems, and speaking to residents and community leaders.

Ian Crawford, P.E., is a structural site engineer with Bechtel, currently working on the New Doha International Airport in Qatar. In this capacity, he is able to interact daily with cultures from around the globe and contribute directly to the establishment of Doha as an emerging player in the global economy. Prior to his current position, Ian worked as a structural design engineer on the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Earthquake Safety Program, strengthening the 30-year-old system in preparation for a large earthquake. He was also deployed to coastal Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina to provide storm victims with food, water, shelter, and the facilities to rebuild their communities.

NSPE's Runners Up

David Conner, E.I.T., is an environmental engineer with MWH Americas Inc. who has conducted design analysis for water and wastewater treatment plants and landfills, served as a field engineer on a variety of environmental projects, and performed industrial and residential structure design. His most recent project is the design of a 60-inch, 31-mile raw water pipeline that will supply Denver's largest suburb and help its citizens realize the benefit of their city's ability to act on its water rights in a timely fashion. Kevin is also active in the sustainable development community in Colorado, is involved with greening his company's operations and designs, and has established sustainability criteria and awards for Colorado middle and high school students at the National Engineers Week Future City competition.

Kevin Coyne, P.E., PSP, is a managing engineer in Exponent's Construction Consulting Practice, where he leads project teams that provide Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) and project controls consulting services. During the past five years, he has worked on a variety of worldwide projects including the "Big Dig" in Boston, the Pentagon renovations, U.S. Embassies in Paris and Rome, multiple Canadian oil refineries, and a road project on the Pacific Island of Palau. He is responsible for leading Exponent's VDC services, including Building Information Modeling services, and is involved with research and development in this area, with the goal of developing software solutions that enable engineers and contractors to design and build facilities faster, of higher quality and sustainability, and with lower life-cycle costs.

Kimberly McDaniel, P.E., is a traffic project engineer with Spalding DeDecker Associates and is the lead traffic engineer in the firm. She performs traffic operations studies, designs signing and pavement markings for various roadway projects, performs safety studies and crash analyses, prepares for the maintenance of traffic throughout construction zones, and designs transportation facilities. Kimberly is also the editor of MichiganITE, the newsletter for the Michigan section of the Institute for Transportation Engineers. She is also a director on the Louisiana Tech University Engineering & Science Foundation Board, serving as an advisor to the dean on matters including curriculum and finance.

Siva Pilli, E.I., is a key researcher for the U.S. Department of Energy project to provide an Analysis of Record of the Double Shell Tanks (DST) at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Nuclear waste is stored in these large underground tanks and a failure of these tanks could pose serious risks to the environment and agricultural economy. His research determines the structural integrity of the 28 million gallon aging DSTs, containing highly radioactive waste, for current and future operating loads. He recently developed and implemented a new and customized computational model for the DSTs to determine thermal and operating load analysis and combined that with seismic results to establish the DST capability to maintain storage and avoid a failure during a large earthquake.

Jacob Rainwater, P.E., a senior project engineer with Metcalf & Eddy/AECOM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, currently serves as the engineer for a wastewater reclamation facility design to produce high quality effluent suitable for beneficial reuse, such as for irrigation or landscaping water. Prior to this position, Jacob served as the project engineer and manager for two multi-million dollar wastewater treatment plant upgrades that reduced harmful discharge within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. And as an engineer with Mount Joy Borough Authority, he worked with state officials and local farmers to develop and complete one of the first "nutrient credit grades" in Pennsylvania, and MJBA received credit for improving the quality of the surrounding water bodies.