SALT LAKE CITY -- On Feb. 12, more than 250 engineers, family and friends gathered at the Clark Planetarium to attend the Utah Engineers Council's 2010 awards banquet. The banquet kicked off Engineers Week 2010 with dining, awards and a speaker, Kent V Rominger -- an ATK vice president and a former astronaut.
Hill Air Force Base engineering leaders won both of the top awards targeting engineering professionals within the state. There were five major awards announced, three reserved for recognizing educators and students. Lt. Kathryn Marron, of the 75th Civil Engineer Group, received the Fresh Faces in Engineering 2010 Award for her engineering leadership role over fire protection projects on base. She was nominated by the Society of American Military Engineers.
The final award at the ceremony, the prestigious Engineer of the Year 2010 Award was given to Dan Christenson, director of Engineering, 748th Supply Chain Management Group, Air Force Global Logistics Center, who through the organization effects the execution of more than $700 million a year and the management of 30,000 Air Force part types. He was nominated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Christenson also was a founding member of the Engineering directorate who hired most of the initial staff, developing and producing Chief Engineers and a Director of Engineering, coordinated the creation of bachelor's of science and master's of science degree programs for base engineers, with his team reduced the time taken to create an scientific and engineering job offer from months to an average of less than two weeks, and was responsible for developing Center, Command, and USAF-wide S&E policy, including his staff drafting the Air Force Materiel Command Force Development Instruction, with their input representing more than 80 percent of its content. He is the author of many other publications and was the primary advocate for development of the current engineering and technical management awards program, a Team Hill Engineers Week activity.
Also recognized with achievement awards, which qualified them as runners-up for the Engineer of the Year award, were Allan Dalpias, chief engineer, 526th ICBM Systems Group, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, who was nominated by the Society of American Military Engineers, and Col. (Ret.) Charles T. Vono, deputy IPD manager, from Northrop Grumman, a corporate partner with Hill AFB, who was nominated by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Five other engineers received achievement awards qualifying them as runners-up for the Engineer of the Year award. Achievement awards were also given to four engineers who were runners-up to the Fresh Faces in Engineering award.
Engineers Week is a nationally and state-recognized event that has been celebrated every year since 1951. It is held the third week of February. This year it runs Feb. 14-20
The UEC is an umbrella organization of fourteen different state or local chapters and sections of engineering societies, with a primary mission of advancing the art and science of engineering and providing a forum of communication between the more than 10,000 engineers in Utah represented by varying engineering societies.
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