Three ODU Engineering Grads Honored for Work in the Field
Three graduates of Old Dominion University's Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology have been honored for work in the engineering field.
Michele King, who earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from ODU in mechanical engineering, received the Doug Ensor Award for Young Engineer of the Year at the Peninsula Engineers Council Annual Banquet on Saturday, Feb. 21.
At the Engineers Club of Hampton Roads 2009 Engineering Excellence Banquet on Friday, Feb. 20, James Gale was honored as Information Government Engineer of the Year, and Barry Forbes was recognized for his service as the 2007-08 American Society of Civil Engineers Norfolk Branch president.
King was nominated by the Hampton Roads Chapter of the International Council on Systems Engineering.
She is currently employed by Futron Corp. King has worked on a contract with the NASA Engineering and Safety Center and on several contracts with Langley Research Center (LaRC).
She also performed data mining of risks for the Exploration Technology Development Program.
More recently, King has served as the risk management coordinator for several programs and projects at LaRC, including the Orion Flight Test Article.
King also is performing an independent schedule health assessment and schedule-risk analysis for a NASA project through the Independent Program Assessment Office.
Forbes is a 1996 College of Engineering and Technology graduate, who received his bachelor's degree in engineering technology, focused on civil engineering, site development and surveying.
He is currently assistant vice president for TranSystems Corp.
Forbes was honored as one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Building Design + Construction magazine this year. In 2005, he was chosen Young Engineer of the Year by the Virginia Society of Professional Engineers. Forbes also received the Cornerstone of Excellence Award from TranSystems in 2001.
Gale graduated from ODU in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.
After working with Stroud, Pence and Associates as a structural engineer, he led a team of architects and engineers at the European offices of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC). Gale had oversight and responsibility for the design of Department of Defense facilities in North Africa, Spain and the United Kingdom.
In 1991, Gale joined NAVFAC in Norfolk as construction manager, and received his master's degree in engineering management from ODU in 2000.
Gale was NAVFAC's 2006 Atlantic's Employee of the Year, and in 2008 was made an Honorary Seabee, an award given sparingly by NAVFAC's chief of naval engineers.