ASCE Oregon Recognizes Gene Tupper as Engineer of the Year

The ASCE Oregon Section Annual Meeting and Gala was held this year at Kells Irish Pub on September 20, 2016.  The event started with a dynamic social hour and dinner followed by annual awards, officer installations, and a lively talk by Hayward Baker’s Michael J. Marasa, PE, on the sinkhole remediation at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The highlight of the evening was the awards ceremony, where GRI’s Gene Tupper, PE, GE, M.ASCE, received the 2016 Engineer of the Year award.  Gene has been an active participant in ASCE for many years and served as the Oregon Section President from 2009 to 2010.  Her contributions to the group included assistance in preparing the Oregon Section’s first infrastructure report card, and she also coordinated sponsorships for the 2016 annual ASCE National Convention in Portland, Oregon.

Gene follows in the footsteps of GRI engineers Dave Driscoll, PE, GE, and Stan Kelsay, PE, GE, who also received the distinguished award in 1997 and 2003, respectively.  In a touching speech, Gene thanked her mentors at GRI; her OSU professors, specifically Drs. JR Bell and Lee Schroeder; and her family for the technical, business, and general support they have offered her throughout her career.

Other award recipients of the evening included Jason Magalen, PE, CH, M.ASCE, the Young Engineer of the Year; Ken Archibald, PE, M.ASCE, the
Government Engineer of the Year; and Raychel O’Hare, S.M.ASCE, recipient of this year’s Journalism Award.

Awards were followed by the welcoming of ASCE Oregon’s newest officers, Eric Destival, PE, M.ASCE — President; Allison Pyrch, PE, GE, M.ASCE — President-Elect; and Tyler Pierce, PE, M.ASCE — Secretary.

Congratulations to all of this year’s recipients and officers!  Your involvement in ASCE is crucial to the civil engineering community, and we thank you for all of your efforts.