Puget Sound Engineering Council

Philip B. Yu

Mott MacDonald, LLC

Philip B. Yu, Mott MacDonald, LLC, has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Young Engineer of the Year Award in recognition of his excellent work as a marine structural engineer working on multiple marine projects along both the east and west coasts, his mentorship of junior engineers, and his service as advisor to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) University of Washington Student Chapter.

Since graduating from the University of Washington, he has been involved with the Seattle Section’s ASCE Younger Member’s Forum. He served as an At-Large Chair and assisted in organizing the annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition and served as the co-organizer and an instructor for the Fundamentals of Engineering Review Course. Later he became the Practitioner Advisor for the University of Washington ASCE Student Chapter and provided academic and professional development advice to the chapter officers. He is an Engineer-in-Training and in the process of pursing a Professional Engineer license in California.

As a marine structural engineer, he has provided engineering services on over 30 marine projects for a variety of public entities along the east and west coasts. From structural inspections, conceptual designs, and alternative analyses to submittal reviews and punch list site visits, he has worked on both recreational and commercial facilities of various sizes, including boat launches, breakwaters, marinas, piers, and wharves. Over the past year, he has assumed more responsibility at his company by being given entire deliverables to develop, junior engineers to lead and mentor, a client to focus on for business development, a university to engage with for recruitment, and an internal training program to conduct focusing on project risk, ethics, and finance.

Amy J. Moore

Flatiron Construction

Amy J. Moore, Flatiron Construction, has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 Young Engineer of the Year Award in recognition of her excellent work as a field engineer responsible for supervising construction work on several major infrastructure projects, her leadership roles in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Younger Member Forum, and her services as an instructor for the Fundamentals of Engineering Review Course.

Serving as a field engineer for the construction of the Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Station, she was responsible for planning and completing the concrete work on four buildings, managing steel erection, getting the buildings weather tight, and managing the architectural finish scopes of work. Coordinating with other trades and areas on the project, she created the pour sequence of the walls, procured formwork, and created crane pick plans for formwork installation including some near active power lines. Serving as a mentor to the summer interns, she ensured that they were developing engineering skills such as plan reading, discipline coordination, and craft management. As a member of the ASCE Younger Member Forum, she serves as President-Elect and as past chair of the Popsicle Stick Bridge competition. This is the Forum’s largest outreach event of the year. Typically, over 200 students, parents, and volunteers attend the event to watch bridges built by high school students load tested at the Museum of Flight. As chair of the event, she was responsible for writing the building code, reaching out to high schools, coordinating with the venue, organizing volunteers, and procuring prizes. She volunteered to serve as a judge for the ASCE Pacific Northwest Concrete Canoe Competition. She also volunteered her time to create practice problems and hold a review session with civil engineering students for the ASCE Fundamentals of Engineering Review Course.

Bobbie Gilmour

Kennedy Jenks  

Bobbie Gilmour, Kennedy Jenks, has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 Young Engineer of the Year Award in recognition of her work as a staff engineer involved in the design and construction of water and wastewater treatment, pumping, and pipeline projects and her outstanding service in multiple leadership positions in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Younger Member’s Forum.

One of her most notable projects was the Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment and Plant Expansion and Upgrade Project in Pierce County, Washington.  She was the site inspector, construction observer, and field engineer on the $350 million project. Other projects on which she has worked include: the Bluffs Well Replacement for Clallam County Public Utilities District No. 1        in Washington; the Lyden Water Treatment Plant for the City of Lyden, Washington; the Tahalweh Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bonney Lake, Washington; and the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant Modifications Aeration Upgrade and Sludge Removal in Kona, Hawaii.

She has been very active in the ASCE Younger Member’s Forum serving as president-elect, treasurer, co-coordinator of the annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition, and the Executive Forum Coordinator. The Executive Forum is an annual event that provides students and young engineers with an opportunity to meet prominent leaders from public agencies, consulting firms and construction companies. In addition, she provides guidance to engineering students as the Practitioner Advisor to the Seattle University ASCE Student Chapter and serves as an author of the drinking water section of the ASCE Washington State Infrastructure Report Card.

Abdur Rehman, P. E., Puget Sound Energy

2019 Award Recipient

Nominated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Abdur Rehman P.E.
Puget Sound Energy

Abdur Rehman, P.E., Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 Young Engineer of the Year Award in recognition of his work as a relay engineer and supervisor and his outstanding service in multiple leadership positions in the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

An active leader with rich power systems engineering design and field experience, he is widely recognized for his passion for sharing his knowledge. As the supervisor of Substation Meter-Relay Operations for PSE, he leads a team of 14 field personnel responsible for commissioning, troubleshooting, and maintaining intelligent electronic devices in PSE’s service territory. He also works with external customers with interconnected generation assets.  Some are wastewater treatment plants that capture methane gas, convert to electric energy, and use it power their own plant while connected to the PSE grid.  During major power outages, he helps to restore the electric grid as the Deputy Operations Section Chief at PSE’s Emergency Coordination Center.

He enjoys sharing his knowledge by developing power system video tutorials and uploading them to Youtube.  He founded GeneralPAC.com in 2014 which has over 11,500 subscribers who are students and professionals.  The channel has over 2.8 million minutes watched since its inception.  With thousands of likes, positive comments, and shares from nearly every major country in the world, he plans to develop more power system video tutorials.

He supports the IEEE Seattle Section as chair of the Young Professional Affinity Group and organizer of the IEEE Pacific Northwest Young Professional Conference that hosts young professionals from across the United States and Canada.

Grace Lefebure, The Boeing Company

2018 Award Recipient

Grace Lefebure
The Boeing Company

Nominated by the Society of Women Engineers

Grace Lefebure, The Boeing Company, has been selected as the recipient of the 2018  Young Engineer of the Year Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions as a stress analysis engineer while working on projects related to aerodynamic performance, static and fatigue testing, and bird strike impact.  She developed eco-friendly leading edge technology for the 757 EcoDemonstrator program that is aimed at improving fuel efficiency and lessening the environmental impact.  She has also worked on developing collaboration tools for the 777X program and developed automated stress analysis processes that streamline repetitive analytical tasks while improving data quality and consistency.  She is currently working on advanced modeling methods for analysis of aircraft seats.

She has been very active as a leader in the Society of Women Engineers; serving as the Newsletter Editor, Vice President for Professional Development, and Section President.  As Newsletter Editor, she incorporated the newsletter into a larger strategic plan for the section’s virtual brand that includes brand-integrated social media accounts.  As the Vice President for Professional Development, she planned professional development events and networking events and started a monthly book club.  As Section President, she leads the Section Executive Council in planning, organizing, and executing professional development, outreach, and recognition activities as serves as liaison with the national organization.

She worked with a team of public school teachers to develop math, science, and engineering problem-based learning units for 4^th and 5^th grade students as part of the Washington Alliance for Better Schools STEM fellows program.  Her team’s units focused on renewable energy, electricity, and power and required students to use critical thinking and logic to make decisions.

Don Nguyen, P.E., COWI North America

Don Nguyen, P.E.
COWI North America

2017 Award Recipient

Nominated by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Don Nguyen, P.E., COWI North America, has been selected as the recipient of the 2017 Young Engineer of the Year Award in recognition of his excellent work in the design of multiple high profile bridge projects across the United States and Canada.  Projects include a balanced cantilever bridge (St. Croix Approach Structures in MN), a cable-stayed bridge (Ohio River Bridges in KY – IN), a pedestrian bridge (Marine Education Center Bridge in Ocean Springs, MS), an arch bridge (Wellsburg, WV), and a retrofit bridge (Champlain Bridge in Montreal, Canada).

He has been very active with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Younger Member Forum (YMF) and currently serves as the president-elect of the organization.  He served as co-coordinator of the 2015-2016 ASCE Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Competition for high school and middle school students and participates on the YMF scholarship committee to select recipients for the annual YMF scholarships.  For 2014-2015, he served as the YMF Secretary. As the YMF Community Service Chair for 2013-2014, he organized monthly volunteer activities including Seattle Works Day, Kiwanis Park Clean Up, Rebuilding Together, Farestart Kitchens, Habitat for Humanity, and Green Seattle Day.  He worked with the coordinating committee tasked with organizing the ASCE National Student Steel Bridge competition held at the University of Washington in 2013.  For his exceptional service to ASCE, he was awarded the 2016 Seattle Section Outstanding Volunteer Award and the 2016 Younger Member in Community Activities Award.

He serves an engineering liaison to the Highline School District and coordinates engineers to visit their schools and project site tours for the students. He encourages participation in the ASCE Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Competition and helps organize student career fairs at Highline High School

Kimberly Hinson, The Boeing Company