2002 engineer of the year nominees.

Brian Looney, P.E.

Nominated by the American Society of Professional Engineers

Brian Looney is a senior engineer with the CRW Engineering Group, a 24-person civil consulting firm in Anchorage. Looney was born in Alaska and has lived 29 of his 40 years here. He graduated with honors from the University of Wyoming in 1983. He has been in the private sector throughout his career with emphasis on roads, trails, parks and drainage projects. Project highlights in the past several years include the Kincaid Park improvements, the Anchorage Football Stadium and Juneau turf projects, East 68th Avenue roadway project, and Eagle River's Old Glenn Highway Rehabilitation project.

Looney has been active in professional organizations locally and nationally. He served as Anchorage's American Society of Professional Engineers-PEPP chairman for three years and was recognized as the ASPE Young Engineer of the Year in 1994. Looney traveled to national meetings as Alaska's governor for two years and served on the national employee career development committee. He has helped to organize a number of local professional development seminars and helped plan and organize the National Society of Professional Engineer's 2001 winter meeting held in Anchorage.

Looney also volunteers with a number of local sport groups. He lives in Anchorage with his wife, Sue, and their two children, Alyssa and Adam.

Robert L. Baldwin, P.E.

Nominated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 

Robert L. Baldwin serves as engineering network planner and major project manager in the network services department of General Communication Inc. in Anchorage. Previously, he was general manager and principal engineer with Alaska Science & Technology Inc., a broad-based Anchorage consulting firm. He has been active in Alaska technical programs since 1955, and is known as an authority in a wide range of fields including acoustics, alternative energy, atmospheric science, communications, data systems and instrumentation. He has contributed many firsts to projects throughout Alaska.

The Alaska Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers recognized Baldwin as Alaskan Engineer of the Year in 1990 and 2001. In 2001, the citation was "for innovative and exemplary leadership in the electrical engineering profession, comprehensive ongoing commitment to Alaska section activities, and service to local and international communities."

Baldwin has a bachelor of science degree and a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Utah with additional cross-disciplinary graduate studies in engineering and atmospheric science. Within the IEEE, he is a past chair of the Alaska Section and the Northwest Area of Region 6 (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Northern Idaho), and currently is Region 6 treasurer (12 western states). He is active in the IEEE Communications Society, as general vice chair of the International Communications Conference 2003, which will be held in Anchorage. He founded and actively participates on a number of community boards, with ongoing interests involving land use planning, public safety and conserving Kenai Peninsula brown bears. He has long worked to develop the University of Alaska into an institution capable of serving Alaska's needs.

Douglas Hupp, P.E.

Nominated by the Society of Petroleum Engineers

Douglas Hupp is a registered petroleum engineer and senior log analyst with Schlumberger in Anchorage. He has a bachelor of science degree in geological engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and a master of business administration degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Presently, Hupp is responsible for developing and implementing interpretation techniques for borehole geophysical data acquired in Alaska oil and gas wells. He has developed techniques for identifying three-phase entry into horizontal and high-angle wells from optical measurements, which leads to accurate shutoff of unwanted gas and increased oil recovery. In 2001, he provided the first commercial formation resistivity through casing interpretations in Alaska. Hupp also is active in Schlumberger's Anchorage Quality, Health, Safety and Environment program including developing, testing and implementing disaster and crisis management programs and leading QHSE management audits of Alaska facilities.

Hupp has written and presented several papers on production log and formation evaluation at national and international conferences including Society of Petroleum Engineers' Annual Technical Conferences in 1999 and 2000, and the Rio Oil and Gas Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2000.

Hupp is active in Anchorage youth sports coaching hockey and soccer and has been a guest speaker in Anchorage high schools and local health fairs.

Laurie McVicar Kozisek, P.E.

Nominated by the Institute of Transportation Engineers 

Laurie Kozisek is a project engineer with the Municipality of Anchorage. Her civil engineering project experience includes the planning and design of streets, highways, airports, harbors, schools, subdivisions, water and wastewater, remediation and cemetery projects.

Kozisek is best known in the engineering community as "the ADA Lady" for her tireless efforts to educate others on requirements for-and the rationale behind--the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines. Currently, she is a member of the Public Rights-of-Way access Advisory Committee, appointed by the U.S. Access Board to develop national accessible design guidelines for sidewalks and streets.

Originally from California, Kozisek came to Alaska at age 17, graduating cum laude from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering in 1978 and obtaining her Alaska registration in 1982. Currently, she is the secretary for the Alaska Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and has been active in the Society of Women Engineers, American Society of Professional Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, the engineering society of Tau Beta Pi and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. In addition to 12 years of engineering interspersed with 11 years of "domestic engineering" while raising kids, Kozisek has served the community as Zoning Board of Examiners and Appeals member, Urban Design commissioner, community council president, PTA treasurer, chess club teacher, Camp Fire leader and catechist.

William Smith, P.E.

Nominated by the American Society of Civil Engineers

William Smith moved to Anchorage in 1976 after working in the Seattle area for 17 years as a civil and structural engineer. He has a bachelor's degree from Purdue University in civil engineering and has been a registered professional engineer since 1963.

Smith has over 42 years experience--26 years in Alaska-designing bridges, buildings, roads and drainage structures. For Tryck Nyman Hayes Inc., he has been project manager and/or structural engineer on new and renovation projects involving structures of structural steel, reinforced concrete, masonry and timber. Smith has prepared and supervised preparation of study reports for structural and/or seismic analysis for a variety of structural systems. Also, Smith has been project manager and/or structural engineer for design of structures throughout Alaska both in permafrost and marginal permafrost areas, which involved freeze-back piles and other frozen soil foundation systems, and in high wind and seismic risk areas as well.

Prior to his recent retirement, Smith was technically active and also active in the community. He has served as project structural engineer on numerous high profile projects in both Alaska and the Lower 48. The Alaska projects include the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport passenger rail station, now under construction; the William Egan Library classroom addition in Juneau; Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility headquarters building renovation; Anchorage Senior Center addition; Chugiak Senior Center additions; and the University of Alaska Fairbanks O'Neill Building seismic study.

K. Kim Rice, P.E.

Nominated by the Society of Women Engineers

The Society of Women Engineers' candidate, K. Kim Rice, is a 22-year veteran of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. She first encountered the Alaska highway system in 1960 when her father packed the family and drove the Alcan to catch the M/V Chilkat bound for Juneau. Her first job in state service was in the 1970s at the Juneau ferry ticket office. During her college years, she worked summers for the Department of Highways as a construction inspector and a location surveyor. Upon completing her bachelor of science degree in civil engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1979, Rice spent her first three years in the department's engineering in training program fulfilling 22 diverse assignments in three regions. Her next job was in bridge design as both a designer and as head of the statewide bridge inspection program. In 1988, Rice transferred to Anchorage spending five years as a project manager developing preliminary design and environmental projects. In 1993, she mov ed to highway design project manager. For the past three years, Rice has served as the chief Right-of-Way agent (ROW) for the central region. Overseeing a diverse staff of 50 ROW engineers, surveyors, appraisers, acquisition and relocation agents, and project managers, she influences and affects the development of every central region highway, aviation and facility project, and oversees the management of the region's lands.

Christopher Turletes, PE

Nominated by the Society of American Military Engineers

Christopher Turletes is the Alaska operations manager for Earth Tech, an 8,000-person worldwide engineering organization. Turletes established an Earth Tech presence in Alaska focusing on federal contracts. In 2000, Turletes retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He served the nation for 23 years, culminating his service as deputy district engineer of the Alaska district. Twelve years of military service was in Alaska. His experience includes planning, budgeting, instructing, operations, and military engineering and construction management. Notable operations he supported include the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, Desert Shield/Storm, Typhoon Omar, Hurricane Iniki and contingency operations in the Balkans. Turletes holds three master's degrees, one from the University of Alaska Anchorage's Engineering and Science Management program. A lifetime member of the Society of American Military Engineers, he serves on the Anchorage post's board of directors. He co-chaired a h ighly successful regional conference in 2001, generating funds for the Post Scholarship program. He is a member of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish and participates in religious education, Eucharistic and outreach ministries. He volunteered at the 2001 World Winter Special Olympics cross-country ski and snowshoe venues. Turletes is married to Cheryl Stewart and they have two teenage daughters, Irene and MaryAlice.