November 2020 Vol. 75 No. 11
People in the News
People in the News
Schnabel Engineering, with specialized expertise and design for geotechnical, dam and tunnel engineering projects, announced multiple principal engineer and scientist promotions.
- Gary Brill, P.E., has 34 years of experience in geotechnical/geostructural and dams design. He has been the branch leader for Schnabel’s Knoxville, Tenn., office since 2019.
- Melinda Dirdal was promoted to associate engineer, relocating to the firm’s Longmont, Colo., office from Greater Philadelphia. Throughout her 13-year career, she has developed, or reviewed, assessment and alternatives reports for over 50 dams and has inspected more than 100 dams.
- Graham Elliott, P.E., has over 20 years in geotechnical engineering practice and leads Schnabel’s geotechnical services in the Southeast United States, from the firm’s Alpharetta, Ga., office.
- Andrew Harrison was promoted to associate scientist. He has 28 years of environmental consulting experience and joined Schnabel in 2018.
- Chad Mayers, P.E., has a 16-plus-year career with Schnabel, currently as the branch leader of the Sterling, Va., and Rockville, Md., offices, and executive vice president of Geotechnical Services, northern region.
- Gary Rogers, P.G., with 35 years of experience, works in the Greensboro, N.C., office, supporting Schnabel’s geoscience staff on site investigations, instrumentation monitoring, and construction support for transportation, water resources and environmental projects.
- During his 20-year career at Schnabel, Jeremy Young, P.E., has supported the evaluation, design and construction of new dams and repair of existing dams. He recently opened Schnabel’s new office in Austin, Texas.
Yoder & Frey
Alex Young joined Yoder & Frey, heavy equipment auctions, as territory manager, based in Coconut Creek, Fla. He is focused on developing the brand in the state of Florida, as well as the surrounding states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. With his entire career to date in the machinery and equipment sales and rental market, he brings valuable experience across a broad sector of markets in the industry.
McKim & Creed Inc.
Thomas R. Rock joined Raleigh, N.C., geomatics services firm McKim & Creed Inc., as Mid-Atlantic subsurface utility engineering (SUE) manager. In this role, he will oversee professional SUE services from Georgia to Pennsylvania. During his nearly 40-year career, he has been involved with every facet of the industry, from working on SUE crews to managing projects, to leading a national SUE company.
Polywater
Tom Fredericks was promoted from vice president and general manager, to general manager/vice president-USA and Canada, and global business development director-Electrical division, at Polywater, the Stillwater, Minn., global, specialty chemical manufacturer for the electrical and telecommunications industries. He now leads sales and marketing, and product development, in partnership with the company’s lab and strategic planning, bringing more than 30 years of experience to the position.
Numa
Phil Dixon joined Numa, the world’s leading drilling technology provider, as international sales manager. Based in England, he is responsible for managing existing accounts, as well as business development of new customers and dealers, in Europe, Middle East and Africa. His diverse background spans sales, technical, operational, service delivery, and business development disciplines, and he is widely regarded as a rock drilling product expert.
Flomatic
Jim Tucci was promoted to national sales manager at Flomatic Corporation, a Glens Falls, N.Y.-based, global valve manufacturer, and leader in the water and wastewater industry. He continues to lead the expansion of Flomatic Valve Products, nationally and internationally, and oversees the corporation’s Customer Service Department. He joined Flomatic Valves about six years ago, after a long career as a driller, in owner/operator capacity and in several positions with environmental firms.
Raymond Smith II is the new inside technical salesperson, assisting with writing quotation proposals, working closely with distributors and product development, and assisting sales representatives. He brings many years of experience as a purchasing manager and a sales representative for the plumbing and water systems industry, working closely with architects, engineers, and wholesale distributors for plumbing and heating products.
RT Specialty
Amy Coddington was promoted to senior account manager within RT Specialty, LLC’s Environmental and Construction Professional (RT ECP) insurance products practice, in Hamilton, N.J. Before joining the firm in 2019, Coddington served as a commercial insurance account manager at the Tyrol Insurance Agency in Newtown, Penn. She attended Temple University and recently gained the Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) designation.
RT ECP offers agents and brokers single-point access to an ample portfolio of products and services provided by the nation's largest environmental and professional liability insurance providers.
John Deere Power Systems
John Deere Power Systems (JDPS) has announced a change to its leadership team in response to the planned retirement of David Hoffman, who acted as director of worldwide marketing, sales and customer support.
His successor, Nick Block, has more than 20 years of experience within marketing, sales and customer support in the John Deere Ag & Turf division and Intelligent Solutions Group (ISG). He recently served as regional director for ISG in Latin America.
Deere & Company is a world leader in providing advanced products, technology and services for customers whose work is revolutionizing agriculture and construction. John Deere Power Systems manufactures and markets industrial, marine and generator-drive diesel engines, as well as drivetrain components for use in a variety of off-highway applications.
Woolpert
Doug Brown, P.E., LEED in building design and construction, and project management professional, was promoted from vice president and program director at Woolpert, to leader of the architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG) and strategic consulting firm’s federal design practice.
During his 18-year career with Woolpert, he has managed many of the firm’s multimillion-dollar military planning and design contracts, overseeing complex projects within strict budgets and tight schedules. In his new position, he provides vision and direction for continually expanding the firm’s support of the U.S. Armed Forces, domestically and overseas, as well as a growing number of other federal agencies.
KorTerra
Natalie Boehne was named director of product development and quality assurance at KorTerra Inc., market leader in damage prevention software for the utility industry. She brings extensive experience and an established track record enhancing product quality and supporting software development best practices to this key role in the design, creation and implementation of KorTerra’s mobile and cloud-based solutions.
Michels
Jeff Mueller was promoted to vice president of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) operations. A respected veteran in the HDD industry and working at Michels for 31 years, he has been intrinsically involved in all facets of Michels’ HDD operations, from equipment development and job-site coordination to bid estimating and employee training.
Matt Smith was promoted to general manager of Contracts and Business Administration for HDD operations. With 15 years of construction experience, including 11 at Michels, he is a heralded practitioner of trenchless construction disciplines, including HDD, Direct Pipe and Tunneling.
In addition, after guiding the industry-leading team for two decades, Tim McGuire will transition to a senior advisor role for Michels trenchless technology groups.
Michels uses HDD to complete energy and infrastructure construction projects where they might not otherwise be possible, including environmentally sensitive and densely developed areas. The method is used for oil, gas, product, sewer, water, electric, telephone cable and fiber optic projects.
Rim Riser
Dwane Paulsen is the new vice president of Engineering at RimRiser, a civil construction solutions company. He brings more than 20 years of experience and achievement in product research, design, and manufacturing. Previous positions include director of Stormwater Product Development at Contech Engineered Solutions and senior product engineer for KIC LLC (acquired by Accuride).
T.D. Williamson
T.D. Williamson Chairman Emeritus Richard B. “Dick” Williamson received the International Pipeline Conference Lifetime Achievement Award Sept. 30, during the International Pipeline Expo, held virtually from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The award is given to a “person or group that has demonstrated through their work and actions that the safety and economy of pipeline systems has been advanced.”
Specifically, IPC credited Williamson with expanding the international presence of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), including co-founding its International Offshore Pipeline Forum (IOPL), helping form and serving as vice president of ASME’s International Petroleum Technology Institute, and working to develop the first-ever ASME-sponsored India Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference.
Williamson has also been actively involved with the American Petroleum Institute (API), National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), and Gas Appliance Manufacturing Association (GAMA). He helped the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) frame the core elements of the U.S. in-line inspection (ILI) system, program and training standards.
As a board member of the American Gas Foundation (AGF), Williamson worked with industry leaders and state and federal pipeline safety regulators to establish the Distribution Integrity Management Program (DIMP) pipeline standard. In addition, he has supported engineering professional and career development programs throughout his career.
The grandson of company founder T.D. Williamson, Sr., Dick Williamson grew up in the industry, even working at TDW as a high-school student, helping prepare service equipment for the field. He formally joined the company in 1971 as a plastics engineer and progressed through a number of career steps, becoming executive vice president and chief operations officer in 1981. He assumed the position of president and chief executive officer in 1992. In 1994, he became chairman of the board in 1994. He served until 2016 when he became chairman emeritus.
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