New Faces Of Engineering Demonstrate The Many Facets Of Their Profession: From Serious To Fun

Engineering is undoubtedly serious work, but those honored as the New Faces of Engineering 2006 show that it’s a profession that knows how to have a little fun, too.

Each year, the Engineers Week Foundation – a consortium of the world’s leading engineering societies and major corporations – asks its members to nominate young colleagues who have shown outstanding abilities and leadership in their chosen discipline. From that list, a select few are chosen as the year’s New Faces, a group that reflects the excitement and vigor of the profession. Engineers Week, February 19-25, 2006, is co-chaired by SWE (the Society of Women Engineers) and Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Typically, the nominees work in critical areas such as national security or transportation planning and development, and this year’s honorees are no different. But, within that set of 20-somethings (nominees must be age 30 or younger) are a few newcomers who understand the importance of a good time.

Take, for example, Timothy Swieter, an electrical engineer whose idea of work is a day at the amusement park. Swieter has made his mark by designing and implementing the control systems that make the latest generation of thrill rides so illusorily dangerous, yet so precisely safe. With his company, Birket Engineering, Swieter has been part of the team responsible for the mechanisms behind such crowd-pleasers as “Revenge of the Mummy, The Ride” at Universal Studios Orlando, a 2,200-foot coaster that includes 180-degree banks and 50-degree drops. The steel twister includes a sudden stop into an eerie, darkened “tomb” where riders are asked to exit, but instead of their snug lapbars being released, the ceiling bursts into flame before riders are sent plunging to the ride’s completion.

For Roger Chang, engineering is all about the arts. Chang, a mechanical engineer at Arup, has played a key role in developing the interior and exterior designs of gallery spaces that require tight environmental control. His synthesis of such techniques as computational fluid dynamics and two-dimensional heat transfer analysis has led to façade and mechanical designs that protect the delicate nature of fine art for institutions such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Shane R. Sevo, a creative designer with Wade Trim Associates, has borrowed a page from Hollywood special effects – including the latest in 3D animation, digital video, and digital compositing applications – to inject stunning visuals into civil engineering business environments. With powerful presentation graphics ranging from computer generated illustrations to realtime interactive 3D environments, Sevo has transformed once-mundane plans to build a pump station, for example, into a moving storyboard that lets the viewer glide up, over, behind and around the proposed installation, long before ground is even broken.

Beyond the thrills and spectacle is the serious side of the 2006 New Faces, including several military and government engineers who are establishing their careers with breakthrough projects and leadership at home and abroad.

Included is Tatiana X. Hernandez for her work as a water resources engineer for Tetra Tech. Hernandez came to the United States in 1998 with limited knowledge of English, but a determination to succeed. Since earning a master’s degree in civil engineering, she has been responsible for developing FEMA floodplain zones in the city of Deltona, Florida, supervising the design and permit process of a $2 million emergency system that provides an outfall to 31 lakes and flood relief for 57,000 residents.

Mario Duarte, a risk and security engineer for the Houston Airport System, has embarked on a career as an industrial engineer dedicated to homeland security research and development. He has helped design a specialized mathematics-based security, threat, and vulnerability analysis method and is currently analyzing the efficiency of the explosive detection and baggage handling systems at the Houston airports.

Jason Brandon Adams, an industrial engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has worked with the environmentally safe disposal of chemical warfare material at formerly used defense sites. In one case, Adams identified cost-effective alternatives that reduced the budget by more than $850 million.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Darrin Barber of the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has used his technical abilities to significantly contribute to the construction of the newest nuclear powered attack submarine, the PCU TEXAS (SSN 775). A chemistry and radiological assistant, Barber served as engineering officer of the Watch during rigorous testing to certify the ship’s nuclear reactor plant.

Nominees were submitted through engineering societies by corporations, academia and engineering professionals and will be honored by a full-page advertisement in USA Today during Engineers Week. Information on all 64 New Faces nominations can be found at www.eweek.org.

“Engineers touch the people of the world through the inventions and products that are an outgrowth of what we design and develop,” says Patricia Welesko Garland, National Chair of Engineers Week 2006. “The New Faces are evidence of our shared successes as engineers. These young professionals have made achievements that improve the lives of people all across the world. Our future is in the hands of these women and men who hold much promise. Let us celebrate their contributions and hold them up as shining stars of our profession.”

Other 2006 New Faces of Engineering include:

• Timo Marquez Arreaza, for his work in sustainable energy engineering for several professional groups and international companies in Europe. He also serves as a consultant for ETH Sustainability’s World YES Forum project in Zurich, where he is project manager of a 15-member team in the area of sustainability, corporate responsibility, and youth engagement.
• Orok Duke, a business development analyst at BP Pipelines NA, Inc. is recognized for his work in conceiving, developing and assisting the implementation of technology to enhance the productivity, reliability, and cost structure of wastewater treatment facilities.
• Lora B. Freeman, an engineer at Parsons Brinckerhoff began her civil engineering career as a graduate student at West Virginia University by working with the West Virginia Department of Transportation Division of Highways. Her thesis has resulted in a standardized bridge package for short-span steel bridge girders that has been incorporated by the state for Steel Beam Design Standards.
• Florian Hollaender, a reservoir engineer at Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, works on the planning of well test data acquisition and the interpretation of that data. This work allows customers to make rapid and informed decisions about how best to develop their assets, ensuring that the best possible tools are made available to maximize energy delivery.
• Vanessa Koutroupas, a principal engineer at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, completed her first undergraduate degree at age 20. Within a year, she earned a patent for software used in reliability analysis, and co-published “LifeTests: Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buck” in several magazines. After completing a second undergraduate degree, she now serves as a key member of General Dynamics’ sustainment engineering team that is designing an Integrated Computer System for the U.S. Army Future Combat System.
• Yazhou (Joel) Liu, a Senior Power Conversion System Engineer at THALES Group, has played a key role in designing the power conversion system for the Boeing Dream Liner 787 aircraft. During the past five years, Dr. Liu has published 19 technical papers in leading international peer-reviewed journals, presented papers at 11 international conferences, and has been a frequent reviewer on international peer-reviewed journals in power engineering.
• Reena Singhal, senior component design engineer at Intel Corporation, develops software models of the next-generation Intel mobility processor in order to analyze and improve its performance before committing features to silicon. This includes performance simulations analysis as well as defining and validating on-chip counters that are used by software developers to optimize performance on Intel’s hardware.
• Jennifer Sutherland, operations manager at Vista Technologies, LLC, has shown exemplary vision, engineering and management that has helped lead her company to the forefront of the rapid prototyping/rapid tooling industry. Her innovations have helped Vista realize triple digit growth in mold building – an industry that has recently seen significant competition by Chinese companies.
• Dr. Jennifer L. Wilcox, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, has used her expertise to research ways to make energy production more environmentally friendly, including unraveling the chemistry of toxic metals – such as mercury, arsenic and selenium – emitted from coal-fired power plants.

New Faces of Engineering 2006 (listed by nominating society). For complete biographical information and to set up interviews, contact Donald Lehr at (212) 967-8200 / dblehr@cs.com.

American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)
Shane R. Sevo

American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
Orok Duke

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Jason Brandon Adams, P.E.

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Lora B. Freeman

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating andAir-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
Roger (Jui-Chen) Chang

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Timo Marquez Arreaza

Chinese Institute of Engineers – USA (CIE-USA)
Yazhou (Joel) Liu

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-USA)
Vanessa Koutroupas

Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE)
Mario Duarte

U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program
Darrin Eugene Barber

National Science Foundation (NSF)
Dr. Jennifer L. Wilcox

National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
Timothy D. Swieter

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
Tatiana X. Hernandez, P.E.

Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)
Jennifer Sutherland

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
Florian Hollaender

Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
Reena Singhal

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Engineers Week, a formal coalition of more than 75 engineering, professional, and technical societies and more than 50 corporations and government agencies, was founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. The program is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers among young students and by promoting pre-college literacy in math and science. Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to society. Co-chairs for 2006 are the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Northrop Grumman Corporation. Visit www.eweek.org for complete information on Engineers Week programs.