New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers

Outstanding Professional Engineer Award
Harry Allen Capers Jr., PE

Harry A. Capers, Jr. is currently the Corporate Bridge Engineer for Arora and Associates, P.C. of Lawrenceville, NJ. In this role he is responsible for oversight of all highway bridge work in the firm’s six offices He also serves as the Quality Assurance Manager for the firm. He currently chairs the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee AFF10 on General Structures and also the TRB Subcommittee AHD35-01 on Safety and Security of Bridges and Structures. He also chairs several National Co-operative Highway Research Program expert panels, and serves as an industry advisor to the New Jersey Institute of Technology and to the Multi-disciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering at the State University of New York in Buffalo, NY. He is also currently managing the U.S. Domestic Scan Program, a joint FHWA/AASHTO /NCHRP technology exchange program under contract to the National Academies.

Prior to his retirement from public service in 2006, Mr. Capers served over 32 years with the New Jersey Department of Transportation as Chief Bridge Engineer and was responsible for all highway structures and geotechnical design work. Mr. Capers has served as a member of AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures (SCOBS), Chairman of its Technical Committee on Loads and Load Distribution, Committee on Tunnel Design, and was Vice-Chairman of the Technical Committee on Seismic Design from 1996 until his retirement. He remains very active with the bridge committee and continues to serve as a technical advisor to several of the technical committees.

He received a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY and a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers University, Newark, NJ. He has authored/coauthored over three dozen papers in national and international publications. Mr. Capers is a registered professional engineer in New Jersey and a Certified Public Manager. He was recognized by the PE Society of Mercer County as Engineer of the Year for 2007.

Outstanding Young Professional Engineer Award
Michael J. Hope, PE, CME

Michael Hope graduated from Widener University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1999. He was subsequently hired as an entry-level engineer by CMX (formerly Schoor DePalma) in its Water Resources Division. He quickly worked his way up through several promotions, where he exhibited maturity and leadership abilities well beyond his years. After five years with CMX, Michael obtained his Professional Engineer license and was promoted to Project Manager. Michael subsequently became a Certified Municipal Engineer and was later promoted to the position of Wastewater Department Manager in August 2006, where he provides managerial direction and supervisory control to develop, manage, promote, and integrate all aspects of the Department operations to meet client needs and achieve Department and Company objectives.

Michael was selected as the Young Engineer of the Year by the Professional Engineers Society of Mercer County in 2007. Michael has also successfully completed the 2007 New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers’ Institute for Professional Leadership Program. Michael is currently a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Water Works Association, and the New Jersey Water Environment Association. Michael is a founding member of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association. He also currently represents the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s “Statutory Advisory Committee for Standards for Individual Subsurface Disposal Systems”. Additionally, Michael is a member of the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers’ “Legislative Committee” and has been nominated as a Chapter Trustee of the Executive Board for the Professional Engineers Society of Mercer County for 2008-2009.

Eldest son of Bob and Marilyn Hope, Michael is a life-long resident of Mercer County, New Jersey, where he currently resides with his wife Donna.

Special Recognition Awards

This year is the 25th anniversary of the initiation of the national MathCounts® program, designed to inculcate the appreciation of mathematics to middle school students in the 6th through 8th grades. NSPE is one of the founding sponsors of this program, and NJSPE sponsors, i.e. organizes and administers, the MathCounts® events in the state under the umbrella of the NJSPE Educational Foundation. Tonight's honorees have volunteered for 20 years, to ensure that MathCounts® is one of the consistently successful and beneficial projects supported by NJSPE. In addition to benefiting the students, it brings many engineers in positive contact with the future generation and those who teach and form it.

Richard Adelsohn, PE
Chairman of the NJSPE Educational Foundation

Richard Adelsohn is currently serving as Chairman of the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers Educational Foundation and has held that position for the past six years. The Educational Foundation is a not-for-profit organization formed to run the Society’s outreach programs. Every year, the Foundation exposes thousands of students and teachers to Engineering through its MathCounts® and Career Day programs. The Foundation also serves as the conduit through which the Society’s Scholarship Program and the Institute for Professional Leadership operate. Prior to assuming the position of Chairman, Mr. Adelsohn served as the North Central Region’s (NCJSPE) MathCounts® Coordinator, Chairman of the Professional Engineers in Private Practice (PEPP), President of NCJSPE, and currently represents NCJSPE as a member of the NJSPE Board of Directors.

Mr. Adelsohn currently manages the Land Development Design Group at Frank H. Lehr Associates, an engineering firm which, for the last 50 years, has provided high quality Civil, Geotechnical and Structural Engineering services throughout the Country. Adelsohn has been practicing Civil, Geotechnical and Structural Engineering since 1986 and has been licensed as a New Jersey Professional Engineer and Professional Planner since 1990, He also holds licenses in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Indiana, and Arizona. Adelsohn has managed a wide range of project types of various sizes working both as a prime consultant and as a sub consultant and has extensive experience in hydraulic and hydrologic design and analysis.

Mr. Adelsohn is married to Lisa, an A/E Defense Attorney, and has two children, Emily, 12 and David 9. The Adelsohn’s reside in West Orange. Rick is involved with the local Cub Scout Organization and is on the Board of Director’s of the New Jersey Y-Camps.

Drew Lillis, PE
NJSPE MathCounts® Chairman

A Professional Engineer with an aptitude towards construction applications of design. A background in engineering starting from the bottom up, first as a field inspector, then on to assisting a senior engineer, then following in his footsteps to take on project management including project feasibility, design, and approvals for small and multi-million dollar projects for both the private sector as well as for government bodies.

Particular expertise in:

Project Management
Construction Supervision
Scheduling
Procurement
Storm water design
Contract administration
Site design
Feasibility studies
Minor structural design
Construction cost estimating
Government submissions
Supervision of field staff

Employer: English Paving Co., Inc.
Roadway Contractors and Builders -- Ridgefield, NJ

Current Position: Project Manager/Superintendent
Co-ordinate and schedule work with owner’s engineers and our field crews
Schedule and release deliveries
Co-ordinate equipment and trucks required for projects
Analyze and prepare requests for extra work
Prepare monthly estimates
Co-ordinate work with subcontractors
Estimating

Education

B. A. - 1987 - New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N. J.; Major: Civil Engineering Post Graduate studies in Construction Management

Professional Affiliations

National Society of Professional Engineers 1988 – Present
New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers 1988 – Present
State Chairman for the National MathCounts® Program 1996 – Present
American Society of Civil Engineers 2000 – Present
Society of Asphalt Technologists 2003 – Present

The NJSPE Awards were established to honor individuals and firms for achievements in the practice and profession of engineering. It is important that we recognize those who have given the best for the advancement of the profession, and to society as a whole.

We are pursuing nominations of individuals for the Distinguished Engineering Service Award, the Outstanding Professional Engineer Award, and the Outstanding Young Professional Engineer/Engineer-in-Training Awards. In addition, NJSPE is accepting nominations of firms, educational, and government organizations for Professional Development Awards. These Awards will recognize those entities with the best records of professional engineering employment practices. Firms or organizations in Private Practice, Construction, Industry, Government and Higher Education are eligible. The latest version of the Awards Guidelines are available on the NJSPE web-site, one copy is attached for your reference. Note that the Guidelines have changed from past years. Application forms for the Professional Development Awards nomination are available upon request. Questions and requests can be addressed to me at the address below, or to Ms. Patricia Brewer at NJSPE Headquarters.

We ask you to review the attached guidelines and we ask each chapter and practice division to make a submission for at least one award category.

by January 22, 2007. See the Awards Guidelines for format and other requirements. Although late submissions are allowed under the new guidelines, they present a greater burden on the nominator and are discouraged. The tentative date for the Awards Committee meeting is Tuesday, February 6, 2007.

In addition to the state submission, we encourage the chapters and practice divisions to recognize their own members who seek nominations. This is a good way to increase involvement in the chapters and being the ‘Engineer of the Year’ of one of our chapters or practice divisions is a honor!

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
The Awards Committee is comprised of a Chairperson, appointed by the NJSPE President, one representative from each chapter, and one representative from each practice division. These representatives are selected by their respective chapters and practice divisions. The names of the chapter and practice division representatives must be on record at the NJSPE Office prior to the first meeting of the Committee.

CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence from the Awards Committee Chairperson relating to meeting notices and miscellaneous correspondence will be transmitted to Committee members at the earliest possible time.

Notices regarding solicitation of nominations will be prepared and distributed no later than October 31st each year. Nominations will be accepted until a date in January to be stipulated in the call for nominations.

The committee will update annual listings of past awards recipients of the Distinguished Engineering Service Award, the Outstanding PE Award and the Outstanding Young PE/EIT Award for inclusion in the Annual NJSPE Handbook.

SUBMITTAL
Nominations for any NJSPE Award may be submitted by an NJSPE chapter, an NJSPE practice division, an individual member who has been enrolled in NJSPE for at least three consecutive years, or a New Jersey employer of at least one NJSPE member who has been enrolled for three consecutive years – all of whom shall be termed a “nominator” in this document.

Although there is no limit on the number of nominees for a particular award, each nominator may submit only one candidate per award category each year. Only award nominations submitted in writing in accordance with the Criteria stipulated belowby a nominator and received at the designated address by the stipulated deadline will be eligible for consideration. There will be no automatic carry-over of past submittals. If a nominator wishes to re-submit a candidate from a prior year it must do so in writing in compliance with the deadlines prescribed in the call for nominations.

CRITERIA
The individual, written submittals shall comply with the following criteria for the respective awards.

MEETINGS
The Awards Committee will meet at least one time prior to the last regular meeting of the Board of Trustees in the first quarter of the year in which the awards are to be presented. Should the number of nominations in any category warrant, the Committee Chair may call additional meetings as may be necessary to properly evaluate nominations.

PRESENTATION
Each nominator is entitled to have one representative attend the meeting of the Awards Committee at which the nomination from that nominator will be considered. This representative shall be permitted up to five minutes to defend the nomination.

Presentation and voting for each award category will proceed in the following order:

If a nominator has not submitted its candidate for a particular award by the prescribed deadline, its representative at an Awards Committee meeting may appeal for relief from the deadline. A motion, duly made and seconded, must be approved by a two-thirds majority of those Committee members in attendance at the meeting to consider a nomination that was submitted after the prescribed deadline.

The nomination(s) in each category will be presented in alphabetical order by the representative of the nominator that sponsored the nomination.

The presentation time may be extended for any nomination upon two-thirds vote of the committee members in attendance at that time. Any time extension shall be extended to all presenters for the same category. The order of presentation during the extended time allotment shall be the same.

A period of open discussion shall follow the completion of all presentations for an award category. All voting members are eligible to participate in the open discussion. The open discussion period is limited to 15 minutes. The open discussion can be closed prior to the time limit by a motion from a committee member, seconded by a committee member, and a two-thirds vote of the voting membership. The open discussion can be extended beyond the time limit by a motion from a committee member, seconded by a committee member, and a two-thirds vote of the voting membership. The extension shall be for 15 minutes. Open discussion extensions shall be limited to one per award category.

VOTING
Each committee member is a voting member, except that the Chair will vote only in the event of a tie in a ballot. Each member who is physically present for the presentation(s) in an award category is entitled to cast one vote for each ballot in that award category. Each attendee may cast only one vote per ballot in each award category for which a nomination has been submitted by the stipulated deadline or granted relief from that deadline as described above in the PRESENTATION section.

Voting will be performed by secret ballot immediately following the verbal presentation(s) and open discussion for each award category. The votes will be tabulated by the Awards Committee Chairperson.

If there are more than three nominations in an award category on the first ballot, each voting member will vote for three choices. The three nominations receiving the highest number of votes will be considered in a second ballot. On the second ballot each voting member will vote for one nomination. ln the event that no nomination receives a two-thirds vote, the nomination with the least number of votes will be dropped. Each voting member will then vote between the remaining two nominations. The winner will be the nomination that receives a simple majority of the voting membership.

At any time during the voting that there is a tie, the Awards Committee Chairperson will cast the tiebreaker vote of the voting membership.

Based on its deliberation, the Committee may vote to not recommend an award in a particular award category.

PROCEDURE FOLLOWING COMMITTEE DELIBERATION
At no time may the Awards Committee Chair or any of the members or any other attendees at a meeting divulge the details of the actual voting as conducted at a Committee meeting. Only final results may be made public.

The final determination of award recipients is the responsibility of the NJSPE Board of Trustees.

The identity of each nomination being recommended by the Awards Committee for each award category shall be submitted by the Awards Committee Chair to the NJSPE Secretary at the earliest possible time – but not later than March first of the year in which the awards are to be presented.

If the Awards Committee has any comments for the welfare of the selection process, these should be forwarded to the NJSPE President at the earliest convenient time.

This version of the Awards Guidelines was approved by the Executive Committee on September 25, 2006 and supercedes all previous versions.