Meet the Board of Directors
Justin Yaitanes, PE (President) (E-Mail)
Justin spent most of his life in Massachusetts and relocated to Portland, Maine in 2018. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and the University of Massachusetts, Lowell in 2015 with a Master’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a concentration in structural engineering. He started his career at MassDOT as a bridge engineer and transitioned to HNTB in 2013. Outside of the office he enjoys the great outdoors and all the great things Maine has to offer with his family. He has been a member of the Boston and now Maine ASCE sections since starting his career and looks forward to becoming more involved.
Lynn Frazier, PE, PTOE (Treasurer)
Lynn is a traffic operations engineer who splits her time between James W. Sewall Company and sister-company Frazier Signal Technologies. She graduated from the University of Maine in 2006 with her BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Lynn has 16 years’ experience focused on Maine with the majority of her time spent on signal design, construction phasing and operational analysis. This is her 5th year serving as the Treasurer and she is also a Past-President of the Maine Section. Lynn is originally from Medway and currently resides in Enfield with her husband, Charles, and their two children.
Ben Shaw, PE (President Elect)
Ben is a project engineer for Gorrill Palmer’s municipal group. He joined Gorrill Palmer after graduating from the University of Maine in Orono with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2017. He has assisted in the design of many municipal projects including roadway and sidewalk design, pavement management plans, culvert replacement, sewer separations, and wastewater pump stations. Ben was a member of the ASCE through college and has continued attending meetings through his professional career. He looks forward to taking on a larger role on Maine ASCE board and working with the amazing previous and new board members. Ben’s favorite place to be outside of work is at his camp on Sebago swimming, boating, and playing with the dogs.
Ben Smith, PE (Vice President)
Ben grew up in Old Town, Maine. He graduated from the University of Maine in 2017 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. During his time there, he was a member of the concrete canoe team and served as the vice president of the ASCE student chapter. He then continued at UMaine to complete a Master’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus in structural engineering and mechanics in 2019. During this time, he was a research assistant at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center, developing a hybrid thermoplastic composite and concrete deck system. Ben currently lives in Topsham, Maine and is a bridge engineer for the Falmouth branch of T. Y. Lin International.
Thomas Rioux, PE (Secretary)
Thomas Rioux is a structural engineer at VHB. He grew up in Scarborough, Maine, and earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Vermont. As of January 2024, he is a licensed Professional Engineer. Thomas has assisted in numerous state and private projects throughout New England, including construction inspection for the Middlebury Tunnel in Vermont, mapping natural gas systems in Massachusetts, and bridge design for Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley. Thomas joined the board in May 2024 and has been a member since December 2022. He is looking forward to planning the Technical Seminar next spring and becoming a valuable part of the Maine ASCE Chapter. In his free time, Thomas enjoys surfing at Higgins Beach, reading on Mackworth Island, and fishing in Casco Bay.
Marco Manfra (Director 3)
Marco grew up in Scarborough, Maine and graduated from the University of Maine in 2022 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He is currently an engineer with the Transportation group at Thornton Tomasetti. Marco currently works on a range of different bridge projects from load ratings, rehabilitations, to full replacements. Marco also has experience with substation engineering and has co-authored a paper that was presented at the 2022 Transportation Research Board meeting and published in the International Pavement Engineering Journal. In his free time he enjoys sailing, skiing, and playing music.
David Horne (Director 2)
Hailing from southern Maine, David has always been drawn to the outdoors, with a deep-rooted passion for nature and science. As a civil engineering graduate from the University of Maine, David has built a robust foundation in both physical and conceptual problem-solving. Driven to bridge theory with real-world impact, David started working at Acorn Engineering, Inc., a small but mighty civil engineering firm based out of Portland Maine. At Acorn, David works on a variety of projects including urban infill, rural subdivisions, stormwater management design and inspection. Outside of work David admires Maine's natural beauty by hiking and skiing in the mountains and exploring the many small coastal communities on his bike.
Matt Orr, PE (Director 1)
Matt grew up in northern New York and moved to Maine after graduating from college. He is a graduate of the University of Maine receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 2018 and a Master’s in Business Administration in 2019. During his time at UMaine, Matt was a student member of ASCE and was the Treasurer his junior year. After graduating from UMaine, Matt began his professional career at Sebago Technics, Inc. as a Civil Engineer. As of April 2024, Matt was elevated to the title of Project Engineer and began taking on a larger project management workload within Sebago. Currently, Matt is transitioning into a full time Project Manager position and oversees site development projects in the municipal, industrial, commercial, and residential sectors. In his spare time Matt enjoys hiking, camping, attending sporting events, and watching movies.
Heather Hayes, PE (Editor: The Informant)
Heather is a structural and project engineer at James W. Sewall Company. She graduated from the University of Maine in 2011 with her BS and 2013 with her MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Sewall Company has provided her the opportunity to work on a variety of projects to improve our local communities, including structural design, pavement scoping and quality assurance and project management. At the University of Maine she worked at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center doing research on the Bridge in a Backpack ProjectTM. Prior to working for Sewall, she worked Louis Berger for 5 years as a structural bridge engineer working on transportation projects in various states. She has been the Informant Editor since 2014.
Nate Strout, PE (Past President) (E-Mail)
Nate is a 2011 graduate of the University of Maine, where he earned a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Nate joined S. W. Cole Engineering, Inc. in 2008, initially as a seasonal technician while attending the University of Maine. He is currently a senior geotechnical engineer and branch office manager of the firm’s Bangor office. Nate’s engineering responsibilities include coordination and monitoring of subsurface exploration programs, geotechnical analysis and design, and the preparation of engineering reports and proposals.