January/February 2017

PEople

Howard Blitman, P.E., 
F.NSPE, has been honored with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his service, philanthropy, and long-standing partnership with the school. Blitman served as NSPE president in 2002–03. A consulting engineer and president of Blitman Building Corp., he graduated from Rensselaer in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and has been active as an alumnus—establishing a professorship in engineering, a fellowship sponsored by alumni in construction, and a gift to the endowment that led to the successful conversion of a hotel into an engaging living space for students, benefiting both the university and the city of Troy, New York.

Having recently retired from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality as director of the Office of Pollution Control, Richard Harrell, P.E., has joined civil and environmental engineering firm FC&E Engineering, located in Brandon, Mississippi, as director of operations. Harrell has more than 20 years of experience in environmental program management and executive level management. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Mississippi State University and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Mississippi.

Shannon LaRocque, P.E., has been named utilities director for her hometown of Wellington, Florida. Before taking the position, she was the assistant administrator assigned to oversee the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department, which has an annual budget of $150 million and 560 staff members, and provides potable drinking water and wastewater service to 500,000 people in the county. LaRocque earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of South Florida.

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers named Jack Poole, P.E., the 2016 recipient of the John L. Bryan Award. Poole is the principal of Poole Fire Protection and serves as cochairman of the Fire Protection Engineering Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in fire protection engineering. He is also a member of the university’s Fire Protection Engineering Curriculum Advisory Committee, served on the Clinical Professor Search Committee, is a cochairman of the Fire Protection Engineering Alumni Club, and serves on the Legacy Campaign Committee.

Nadir Yilmaz, Ph.D., P.E., F.NSPE, has been appointed to the New Mexico Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Professional Surveyors. Yilmaz is the associate department chair and director of undergraduate programs for the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He’s also the author of numerous publications in the fields of combustion, computational fluid dynamics, rocket propellants, renewable energy, and internal combustion engines. Yilmaz holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Bradley University, and New Mexico State University, respectively.

Burns & McDonnell has announced the promotion of Ryan Cross, P.E., to principal. As manager of a team of more than 50 employee-owners in St. Louis, Cross oversees substation and transmission and distribution line design to utilities and industrial clients across the US. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and a master’s degree in business administration from Webster University.