2026 Utah Section Awards
The Utah Section Awards Committee is pleased to announce the winners of this year's ASCE Utah Section Awards! These engineers and engineering projects represent the best of our industry and our state. It was a competitive nomination season, leading to an unprecedented tie in the Project of the Year Under $10 Million category. Click on the title to learn more about each winner.
Educator of the Year - Dr. Clifton Farnsworth, ENV SP - Brigham Young University
"As the ASCE chapter advisor at BYU, Clifton inspires students by cultivating leadership, expanding competition involvement, and strengthening industry engagement. Nationally, through ASCE ExCEEd, he mentors faculty whose influence reaches thousands more students, multiplying his impact on civil engineering education.."
Engineer of the Year - Greg S. Thomas, P.E.
"Greg exemplifies leadership, technical excellence, and commitment to advancing Utah’s water infrastructure. He faithfully serves and protects all stakeholders through well-defined contracts, flexibility through roadblocks, and situational levity when appropriate. As a mentor, he imparts confidence while keeping expectations high."
Fresh Face of the Year - Emily Tulsky, P.E.
"Emily seeks to improve water quality standards, find solutions to groundwater recharge, and enrich the ecosystems where her projects take her. Her continuous presence in professional communities is driven by her dogged pursuit of improved storm water treatment practices."
Project of the Year Under $10 Million - 1200 East Oval-A-Bout, Logan City
“Logan City’s 1200 East corridor improvements replaced an offset intersection with a nonstandard roundabout and converted a constrained Tintersection into a single-lane roundabout. Additionally, pavement, stormwater, and critical City/USU utilities were replaced while significantly enhancing safety and multimodal connectivity.”
Project of the Year Under $10 Million - Salt Lake City Temple Seismic Retrofit, Measure LLC
“Dustin Engineers (now Measure LLC) delivered a civil engineering instrumentation program that safeguarded a 19th-century landmark during deep excavation and base-isolation construction, giving engineers and contractors real-time data to manage risk, protect workers, and preserve the Temple's historic fabric.”
Project of the Year Over $10 Million - Bangerter South Design-Build, 4700 South Progressive Design-Build, Michael Baker International
“This award-winning transformation replaces four signalized intersections with thoughtfully designed free-way-style interchanges, integrating SPUIs, a tight diamond, and pedestrian crossings to deliver enduring improvements in safety, efficiency, and the visual quality of a critical regional corridor.”
Landmark Engineer - Ethlyn Ann Hansen
“Ethlyn was the first woman to graduate from the University of Utah's civil engineering program in 1951. She went on to earn a master’s degree from the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering at UC Berkeley and spent a lifetime in transportation and highway design.”
Landmark Engineer - H. Lee Wimmer
“H. Lee Wimmer’s career represents a rare combination of technical excellence, visionary leadership, and enduring service to both the engineering profession and the people of Utah. His lifetime contributions—spanning private consulting, public infrastructure leadership, and mentorship— have left a lasting imprint on the state’s built environment and engineering community.”
Utah Section Engineers/Engineering Educators of Year
| YEAR | ENGINEER OF THE YEAR | ENGINEERING EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR | FRESH FACE OF ENGINEERING | PROJECT OF THE YEAR (OVER $10M) | PROJECT OF THE YEAR (UNDER $10M) |
| 2011 | David Pitcher, P.E. | Dr. Paul Tikalsky, P.E. (U of U) | Steven Lord (Horrocks Engineers) | (none) | (none) |
| 2012 | Dr. Henry Christiansen, P.E. | Dr. John M. Murray (SUU) | Dave Lehman, P.E. (URS) | (none) | (none) |
| 2013 | John R. Njord, P.E. | Dr. John D. Rice, P.E., G.E. (USU) | Alex Drake | (none) | (none) |
| 2014 | D. George Hansen, C.E., S.E. | Dr. Kevin Franke, P.E. | (none) | (none) | (none) |
| 2015 | (none) | (none) | (none) | (none) | (none) |
| 2016 | Ryan Cole | Paul Barr (USU) | Ashley MacMillan | The Provo City Center Temple | (none) |
2017 | Matthew Roblez, S.E. | Laurie McNeill | Imanuel Aswandi | (none) | (none) |
2018 | K.N. (Guna) Gunalan, Ph.D., P.E., BC, GE | Dr. Rollin H. Hotchkiss | Michelle Haake | (none) | (none) |
2019 | Mark Christensen, P.E. | Dr. Nick Safai | Layton Asmus | (none) | (none) |
2020 | K.C. Shaw, P.E. | Dr. Christine Pomeroy | Lingkun Li, P.E. | (none) | (none) |
2021 | Craig Friant, P.E. | Dr. Steve Burian | Dr. Faramarz Safazadeh | I-15 Southbound | (none) |
2022 | K.C. Shaw, P.E. | Dr. Abbas Rashidi | Anna Roberts | (none) | (none) |
2023 | Mark Chandler, P.E., P.G., CFM | Austin Ball, P.E. | Jacob Moser | SR-89 | Fort Douglas Tank |
2024 | Robert (Bob) Q. Elder, P.E. | Dr. Mohamed Askar | Stephanie Holzkamp, P.E. | West Davis Corridor | (none) |
2025 | Jared Scarbrough, P.E. | Dr. Korin Holden | Easton Hopkins | (none) | (none) |
| 2026 | Greg S. Thomas, P.E. | Dr. Clifton Farnsworth, ENV SP | Emily Tulsky, P.E. | 1200 East Oval-A-Bout; Salt Lake Temple Seismic Retrofit | Bangerter South Design-Build/ |
C.I.V.I.L AWARDS
The ASCE Utah Section Council of Individuals Valiantly Improving Life (C.I.V.I.L.) Award recognizes individuals who have given service beyond what is normally expected. This award is a state designation highlighting exceptional volunteer efforts. The C.I.V.I.L. Award is not an annual selection - it is a rare honor of appreciation granted only when extraordinary efforts merit designation.
ASCE Utah Section C.I.V.I.L. Award Winners:
Jim Denney
Jeannine Wirth
Paul Jara
Chuck Call
Dave Malpass
Dave Jenkins
Don Budge
Russ Brown
LaVere Merritt
Bud Carrel
Al Galarido
Nancy Berson
Jeff Hillard
Al Grant
Richard Heap
Bob Esterbrooks
Jim Nordquist
Norm Clyde
Al Schellenburger
Blaine Leonard
Edward Groff
David Jenkins
Dayle Coburn
Ross Wilson
David Eckhoff
Blake Tullis
Landmark Engineer Awards
The ASCE Utah Section Landmark Engineer Award is organized by the ASCE Utah History and Heritage Committee, and recognizes a lifetime achievement in civil engineering. This designation may be an antemortem or posthumous honor. Award winners must display a profound impact on state history in the field of engineering.
ASCE Utah Section Landmark Engineer Award Winners:
Blaine Leonard
Brigham Young
Russell Brown
Victor Roblez
Paul Riley
James Denney
Phil Gerhart
Carl Carpenter
William (Bill) Young
Ethyln Ann Hansen
H. Lee Wimmer