Previous Alumni News:
Thompson Dreessen & Dorner Announce New Ownership Partners
Thompson, Dreessen & Dorner, Inc. (TD2), Chairman of the Board, Robert Dreessen, PE announced today it has extended the invitation to purchase ownership shares in the firm to Douglas E. Kellner, PE and Troy J. Nissen, PE, SE. These additional principals will help continue TD2’s ability to provide the expert Civil, Structural, Geotechnical, and Environmental Engineering and Land Surveying services our clients have come to expect.
Troy Nissen, PE, SE has extensive experience in the design of structural systems for a variety of facility types and business classes including commercial, educational, industrial, medical, residential/senior living, and religious projects. He is a 1995 graduate of Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Employed by TD2 for 15 years, Troy is a registered professional structural engineer in NE, CO, IA, and IL.
Mines professor honored with Swedish doctorate
Tissa H. Illangasekare, AMAX Distinguished Chair of Environmental Science and Engineering and professor of civil engineering at Colorado School of Mines, has been chosen by the faculty of Science and Technology at Uppsala University in Sweden, to receive an honorary doctorate in the area of "Natural Science and Technology."
Illangasekare was cited as being "a world leading researcher and experimentalist in the water resource area." He is known for his unique ability to combine innovative scientific theory with precise measurement techniques and innovative experiments. These methods have led to significant progress on a number of different areas of groundwater hydrology. His research has developed theories and models to apply our knowledge of small-scale processes on real, large-scale problems. This is necessary for example to understand the spread of environmental pollution and to rehabilitate them effectively.
Uppsala University's honorary doctorates are conferred upon individuals who have done outstanding academic work or in some other way promoted research at the university. The title of honorary doctor, doctor honoris causa, is conferred upon academics, primarily from abroad, who have established ties with Swedish academic researchers or other individuals who have not taken a doctorate through academic studies but should clearly be inducted into the research community.
AAWRE profiles esteemed, compassionate water resources engineers
ASCE's American Academy of Water Resources Engineers recently got two leading civil engineers to open up about their experiences in a pair of enlightening interviews. Vijay Singh, Ph.D., Sc.D., P.E., P.H., Hon.D.WRE, F.ASCE, editor-in-chief of ASCE's Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, shares his thoughts on his transition of moving from India to North America, his love of teaching and research, and his passion and vision for a school he founded in his native India that provides secondary education in rural communities. Singh's extensive volunteerism in the U.S. and abroad earned him a nomination for the Hoover medal. Read the Singh interview.
Robert Houghtalen, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE and his wife, Judy, spent 2007-2008 on a sabbatical doing humanitarian work in Sudan, which won them the Rose-Hulman Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award. Their experiences led them to return to Sudan in December 2009 to pursue their work full time. Houghtalen reflected in his interview on his tenure at Rose-Hulman, his current work in Sudan and his hopes for the region. Read the Houghtalen interview.
Dr. David Molden, a graduate of Colorado State University (M. Sc. And Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Class of 1988), and current Deputy Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Sri Lanka, has received the CGIAR Award for Outstanding Scientist, which was presented yesterday at the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) in Montpellier, France.
In a speech on World Water Day (March 22) last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned listeners about the water crisis facing two thirds of the world’s countries and the importance of water management in combating water scarcity. In large part due to David Molden’s leadership, policy makers around the world now have concrete policy options for ensuring global food security over the next 50 years.
Molden has brought issues of water scarcity to global prominence on the political and policy management stages and is responsible for bringing water productivity as a concept to the forefront of the quest to feed a growing global population. Under his leadership, Molden coordinated the “Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture,” a study conducted by over 1,000 researchers which serves as a benchmark for researchers grappling with water management issues in agriculture.
Daniel Gessler, P.E., Ph.D., was promoted to Principal and Owner by Alden Research Laboratory, Inc. on Dec. 11, 2009. Dr. Gessler, who heads Alden’s Fort Collins, Colo. office, will be a practicing principal as he continues his hands-on role with physical and numeric modeling projects while providing leadership in the company’s hydraulics and fish passage areas.
Dr. Gessler will lead Alden’s renowned program in hydraulic modeling, including sedimentation, erosion, and fish passage studies. Dr. Gessler has 18 years of numeric and physical modeling experience, including work on numerous hydroelectric projects. Dr. Gessler, a recipient of B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Colorado State University, has been Director of Colorado Operations since Alden opened its Fort Collins office in 2008.
To visit Dr. Gessler website, click here.
Dr. Jeffery P. Holland became the director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and the director of research and development (R&D) and chief scientist for the Army Corps of Engineers on Jan. 1.
As ERDC director, Holland will manage one of the most diverse research organizations in the world, with seven laboratories located in four states and more than 2,500 employees, $1.2 billion in facilities and an annual program exceeding $1.5 billion. He will be located at the center’s headquarters in Vicksburg, Miss.
To view the full news release from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about Holland's appointment, click here.
