Black Engineer of the Year.

William D. Smith, president of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc. (PBQ&D), has been named Black Engineer of the Year for 2005.

The honor goes to an innovator who demonstrates a commitment to engineering expertise and leadership and serves as a role model who can excite and inspire young people to reach their potential.

The award winner must also carry substantial financial and management responsibility and be an innovator in his or her field. Given annually for the past 19 years, the award is sponsored by the Career Communications Group and the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference. The awards dinner was held on Feb. 19 in Baltimore.

PBQ&D is the oldest and largest of the companies comprising Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), an international planning, engineering and program/construction management organization. As president, Mr. Smith oversees 3,000 employees working on 1,700 infrastructure planning and design projects, including transit and rail systems, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, ports, and water resources facilities in the U. S. and Canada.

Mr. Smith previously served as a senior vice president and Northwest district manager for PB, managing the firm's operations within a 10-office region serving the northwest U.S. and Canada. He has overseen the firm's work on projects such as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge East Span; the extension of the MUNI Metro Third Street Light Rail in San Francisco; the Legacy Parkway in Utah; and extensions to the Bay Area Rapid Transit system.

Mr. Smith also served as the chief electrical/mechanical engineer for the Superconducting Super Collider project in Waxahachie, Texas, a multibillion-dollar high energy physics research facility.

Before joining PB in 1988, Mr. Smith held various engineering positions with mining, manufacturing and service companies in the U.S. and abroad. He served for four years in the U.S. Air Force, with the rank of captain, working on projects in Asia involving the installation and maintenance of communications systems, navigational aids and aircraft control networks.

Mr. Smith is a registered professional engineer in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas, and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the California Society of Professional Engineers. He is a director of the NYBC and a member of the board of Conference of Minority Transportation Officials.