Engineers Honor 'New Faces' 2006

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 23, 2006 -- Designers of thrill rides, art museum gallery galleries and business environments are among the New Faces of Engineering 2006, chosen by the Engineers Week Foundation as part of Engineers Week, co-chaired by the Society of Women Engineers and Northrop Grumman Corp.
Among the new faces are Timothy Swieter, an electrical engineer whose company Birket Engineering has been part of the team responsible for the mechanisms behind amusements such as "Revenge of the Mummy, The Ride" at Universal Studios Orlando; Roger Chang, a mechanical engineer at Arup who has played a key role in developing the interior and exterior designs of gallery spaces that require tight environmental control for institutions such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, Atlanta’s High Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Shane R. Sevo, a creative designer with Wade Trim Associates, who has borrowed a page from Hollywood special effects to inject stunning visuals into civil engineering business environments.
The 2006 New Faces also include several military and government engineers. Tatiana X. Hernandez is being recognized for her work as a water resources engineer for Tetra Tech. Since earning a master’s degree in civil engineering, she has been responsible for developing FEMA floodplain zones in the city of Deltona, Fla., 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 US 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 US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has used his technical abilities to 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 are being honored with a full-page advertisement in USA Today during Engineers Week. For more information, visit: www.eweek.org