Summer 2022

NSPE Today
Celebrating Excellence in the Profession

The Society’s highest honors were presented during NSPECon 2022 to some of the profession’s most accomplished professional engineers.

NSPE Award

The Society’s most prestigious award for professional engineers is presented to a member who has been committed to the profession, public welfare, and humankind.

 Howard (Skip) Harclerode II, P.E., F.NSPE, F.AIChE

Harclerode is the founder and president of KBD Engineering Company Inc., based in Phoenix, Maryland.

Harclerode has been a tireless advocate for the engineering profession. He makes presentations at Maryland universities about the importance of licensure. He was a principal advocate for the establishment of continuing professional competency requirements for engineers in Maryland.

A member of NSPE since 1980, Harclerode has served on the NSPE-PEI Interest Group Board, the Legislative & Government Affairs Committee, and the Critical Infrastructure & Homeland Security Task Force. On the state level, he served as treasurer of the Maryland Society of Professional Engineers and is a cofounder of the MDSPE Educational Foundation.

Harclerode is a past chair and vice chair of the Maryland Board for Professional Engineers. He was awarded the NCEES Distinguished Service Award with Special Commendation in 2019 for his many contributions to NCEES, including chairing the Committee on Uniform Procedures and Legislative Guidelines and serving as 2011–13 Northeast Zone vice president.

Engineering Education Excellence Award

This award recognizes licensed engineering faculty who have demonstrated the ability to link engineering education with professional practice.

 Mohamed El-Sayed, Ph.D., P.E.

El-Sayed is a professor of mechanical engineering at Eastern Michigan University. He has also served as professor and director of the Vehicle Durability and Integration Laboratory at Kettering University.

El-Sayed has vast technical and industrial expertise in the areas of vehicle realization, quality, reliability, durability, and optimization. He has also worked as a chief engineer, director of engineering, lead engineer, and subject matter expert in the automotive industry. He has several granted patents, one authored book, and over a hundred technical and educational publications.

El-Sayed has contributed to the education of hundreds of engineers engaged in the field of engineering design and product development. He teaches engineering capstone, machine design, and applied mechanics course at the undergraduate level. At the graduate level, he taught unique courses such structural optimization, nonlinear finite element analysis, automotive body design, automotive safety, quality, reliability, and durability.

The 2019 recipient of the SAE International Medal of Honor is the editor-in-chief of SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars and SAE International Journal of Advances and Current Practices in Mobility.

New Professional of the Year Awards

This award recognizes a young NSPE member who has made outstanding contributions to the engineering profession and the community during the early years of one’s career.

 Holly Ahumada, P.E., CFM

Ahumada earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Texas A&M University in 2012 and 2013, respectively. After graduating in 2013, she began working at Halff Associates and later joined Freese and Nichols’ stormwater group in 2019.

Throughout her career, Ahumada has specialized in stormwater and floodplain management, as well as supporting public entities with long-term planning, and the analysis and mitigation of flooding issues. She has also worked on a variety of hydrology and hydraulic related plans and projects. Ahumada regularly prepares and leads technical training both internally and at conferences in HECRAS Unsteady modeling and HEC-RAS 2D.

Ahumada is an active member of the Fort Worth Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers and is currently serving as president. She has also taken on several roles with the MATHCOUNTS program including as volunteer coordinator for several years and as the chapter event coordinator in 2018. She was recognized as NSPE-TX’s Young Engineer of the Year in 2021.

 Dylan Ward, P.E., MPA

Ward is a project manager for the City of Henderson in Kentucky where he has been employed for the past eight years. He began his career as an engineering assistant and was promoted to public works engineer in 2016 and then to project manager in 2017. He oversees the Engineering, Mass Transit, and Safety/ Training divisions. He also serves as the project manager for numerous community projects, most notable of which are a new headquarter fire station and a new sports complex.

Ward graduated from Western Kentucky University (WKU) in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engi- neering and obtained his PE license in 2018. He earned a Master of Public Administration degree from WKU in 2018. He is a graduate of the Kentucky Leadership P.E. program.

Ward is heavily involved with various professional and charitable organizations. For the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers, he currently serves as vice president for the Western Region and is president of the Green River Chapter. He serves as the board chair for the Gathering Place Senior Center in Henderson, as well as for Owensboro Chrysalis. He coaches a boys’ soccer team and is heavily involved at Owensboro Christian Church.