Philadelphia Post Recognition

Sustaining Member Firm of the Year: Colliers Engineering

Young Professional Award: Alexis Witt, Weston Solutions

Notable Achievement Award: Mike Hansen, Verina Consulting Group

Service Award: Peter Gori, USACE Philadelphia District

Sustaining Member Firm of the Year: KOMAN Family of Companies

Young Professional Award: DCHWS Committee

Notable Achievement Award: Patricia A. Coughlan

Service Award: Roland de Guzman, PE, CEM, CDR, CEC, USN (ret)

Sustaining Member of the Year: Wood.

Wood has been a sustaining member for over 34 years.  Wood (previously AMEC) has been a strong supporter of the SAME Philadelphia Post since they became a sustaining member.  Wood has 201 members listed on their roster and are a member of 59 Posts and 1 Field Chapter.  Wood, under previous names has been awarded the:

JW Morris Sustaining Member Award Large Company
2006 AMEC 
2001 Foster Wheeler
Large Business Award for support of small business 

Often one of our highest financial supporters, they sponsor events, encourage their employees to attend events and allow employees to hold leadership positions within the society.  Wendy Parker, an employee of Wood has been on the Philadelphia Post board since 2008.  She won the National YM Award in 2013.

Service Award Group: Washington Crossing Project Team

The impact of the SAME Philadelphia Post’s Washington Crossing National Cemetery (WCNC) Project Committee and its successful efforts through dedicated volunteers has yielded a significant upgrade to the WCNC’s Scattering Garden; located in Newtown, PA. Working in collaboration with WCNC representatives, the area now features proper drainage and a defined new landscape design provided by Maser team member, Jay DeFelicis – for veterans’ sacred cremains to be put to rest by their loved ones. Lewis Environmental, in partnership with Foley Cat, donated two days of labor to successfully construct a new secondary retaining wall and drainage system in support of the overall design. Concrete blocks from abandoned storage bins at the WCNC were repurposed and used to build the new retaining wall (both sustainable and saving WCNC a good deal of money). In addition, the field stones excavated from grading the site were used to complete the wall façade to cosmetically tie in the two retaining walls.

During the Committee’s planning stage to upgrade the scattering garden, the Guardians of the WCNC reached out to gain SAME assistance to drill holes for new flag poles; unable to drill through the granite-filled soil. The Committee responded by engaging TWS Environmental (TWS), a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small business (SDVOSB) from Wilmington, Delaware to lead the project, along with TetraTech team member, Carl Rodzewich. TWS donated and provided the project management, mark out, and labor for this endeavor, partnering with Sunbelt Rentals who donated a bobcat auger to complete the project. In the end, this team sunk 22 holes to complete the Avenue of Flags, ensuring that this feature will continue to represent patriotism and national pride at the WCNC for future generations.

Special thanks to Feeney’s Nursery, Clearview Nursery and Maser Consulting for foliage donations, Tetra Tech’s Langhorne, PA office for their donation of Riprap stone and the Philadelphia Post WCNC Project Committee: Chairwoman Laura Saunders (Maser Consulting), Carl Rodzewich (Tetra Tech), Diane Lucas (Tetra Tech), Dustin Kapson (AKRF), Stavros Patselas (Tetra Tech), Gerald (Jay) DeFelicis (Maser Consulting), Mike Hansen (Verina Consulting Group), and our construction partners: Lewis Environmental and TWS Environmental. With over 35 volunteers who gathered on a Saturday morning in October, additional appreciation to the NJ S.A.M.E. Post members, Conwell Egan High School students, the local VFW Post, Cedarville Engineering and the friends, family and colleagues who armed themselves with shovels to dig and plant approximately 150 trees, shrubs and perennials until the design was perfectly achieved by mid-day.

Service Award Individual: Roy Denmark, Urban

• Member Philadelphia Post since 1985
• Philadelphia Post Secretary 1986 – 1991
• Chair or co-chair of the Post’s Annual Golf Classic since its inception in 1988
• Philadelphia Post Board of Directors since 1999
• Philadelphia Post President 2014-2015
• Scholarship Committee 

Roy has been dedicated to SAME for 35 years!  Throughout his SAME career, he has always been a committed and loyal member, supporter, sponsor, mentor, and the list goes on.  This small token of our gratitude can’t possibly speak for the years and years of service to our society and our post.  Thank you Roy!

Young Member Award: Lindsay Keller, Ramboll

Lindsay Keller joined the SAME community in 2018 and is currently a sustaining member with Ramboll.  During this time, she has helped organize and volunteer at several local events including the Liberty Golf Classic scholarship fundraiser.  As part of the Resiliency Committee for the annual Philadelphia Resiliency Symposium, Lindsay has helped develop the technical program for the event and interface with presenters.  Lindsay was also selected as the Philadelphia Post’s young professional representative at the 2019 SAME National Joint Engineer Training Conference in Tampa, Florida.

Notable Achievement: Kate Garufi, EPA

Denver SAME Post member since December 2016.  For the past seven years, I, on behalf of EPA, have facilitated the EPA co-sponsorship of the Design and Construction Issues at Hazardous Waste Sites (DCHWS) events with the SAME Philadelphia Post. The purpose of this co-sponsorship is to enhance communication networks and promote continued information exchange among professionals from the private and public sectors regarding design and construction issues at hazardous waste sites. In the beginning years, the co-sponsorship focused on the delivery of a DCHWS symposium every spring in Philadelphia.  Since its inception, this event has grown to over 400 attendees.  In addition, the co-sponsorship has expanded to include the Denver Metro Post to support execution of a sister West symposium event and most recently a webinar and in-person training series.

Sustaining Member Firm of the Year- Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC

Cohen Seglias, a law firm representing government contractors, has maintained a strong relationship with the Philadelphia Post of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) since Michael Payne, chair of firm’s Government Contracting Group, first joined in 1983. As the firm and its Government Contracting Group grew, Cohen Seglias remained committed to the local Philadelphia Post and its members. Over the years, the firm has represented various Philadelphia Post members, providing legal services and guidance on federal contracts. Cohen Seglias attorneys are active with SAME, both locally and nationally. The firm and its attorneys regularly sponsor, attend, present, and exhibit at events including the Philadelphia Post Annual Golf Outing (2018, 2019), the Philadelphia Post’s Small Business Conference (2016–2019), the Joint Engineer Training and National Small Business Conferences (2017–2019), and the 2018 SAME Federal Small Business Conference. Cohen Seglias increased its commitment when it recently became a Sustaining Member. Partner Robert Ruggieri currently serves as Elective Governance Director to the SAME Philadelphia Post Board of Directors. In this position, Bob assists in the development and execution of the professional construction and engineering education programs, which actively promote an understanding of the legal, compliance, regulatory, and contracting aspects of governing contracting.
Young Member Award- Jaimie Wright KOMAN Holdings 

Ms. Wright has been a member of the SAME Philadelphia Post since 2017 where she is part of the Communications, DCHWS, Awards, and Young Member committees. In 2018, Ms. Wright was elected to the Philadelphia Post Board of Directors for a three-year term. As Communications Chair, she is responsible for all communications for the Post including the website; event emails; social media pages including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn; and Eventbrite. She often volunteers to take care of tasks associated with all aspects of Post meeting coordination and communication to ensure each event runs smoothly. Working for KOMAN Holdings, LLC, she is responsible for assisting subsidiary business development staff in presentations and proposals; supports the corporate-wide branding strategy; conducts market research; and is responsible for updating and maintaining all of the KOMAN Family of Companies websites. Ms. Wright has a BS in Marketing from West Chester University. In addition to SAME, Ms. Wright is also an active member of SMPS.
Notable Achievement Award- Maria Antonia Andrews University of Pennsylvania

Ms Maria Antonia Andrews is the Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs in the Earth and Environmental Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been teaching graduate and undergraduate courses at Penn since 2003 in the fields of Geochemistry, Environmental Chemistry and Air Pollution. She is a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Board for the Community Outreach and Engagement Core of the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at the Perelman School of Medicine at Penn where she co-directs the Short Term Educational Experiences for Research program. She is the faculty advisor for the Penn Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Chapter. As an advisor and a mentor for EWB she participates in water access, sanitation and hygiene projects in rural Guatemala. Ms. Andrews is active in SAME including as an At-Large Director for the Philadelphia Post and Co-Chair for the Scholarship Committee. She has been serving the Society as an active member since 2017. Ms. Andrews has contributed to the Society’s mission of Industry-Government engagement, as well as student outreach, by significantly increasing university participation in the Post’s Symposium on Design and Construction Issues at Hazardous Waste Sites. Additionally, Ms. Andrews was instrumental in creating and maintaining the partnership between the Philadelphia Post and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business-Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership, which increases Industry-Academia engagement. She has also served as the Post’s unofficial event photographer for the last 2 years.
Service Award- Rocco P. RomagnoliUS Army of Corops of Engineers

Mr. Romagnoli joined SAME in 1993 and has been a substantial part of the post ever since. As Post Secretary, Mr. Romagnoli scheduled dinner meetings and sent out paper invitations for each event prior to the use of online registration. He welcomed guests at the registration table at every event to collect payment long before credit card payments were accepted! Mr. Romagnoli prepared monthly meeting notices and info bulletins, maintained and updated membership files, prepared streamer justifications, served as liaison with National, and many other multi-faceted duties over his 26 years. With the advancement of online registration tools and National’s resources, Mr. Romagnoli’s responsibilities have become more efficient or handled online, but he still compiles Board of Direction meeting minutes, maintains records of Board members, and nearly everything else the post requests of him. Mr. Romagnoli also preserved a lot of the Post’s history, and was able to locate the original 1920 charter of the post which he recently had framed to highlight the centennial celebration of the Philadelphia Post coming up in 2020. Mr. Romagnoli has provided decades of unwavering and loyal service to the Philadelphia Post.

Sustaining Member Firm of the Year: OBG
In Recognition of Outstanding Contributions to SAME and/or the Military Engineering Profession

OBG, an integrated engineering solutions company, has been a sustaining member of the Philadelphia Post of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) since 2005. Since this time, the company has made numerous contributions to the Post, demonstrating its strong commitment to the organization. OBG’s first foray into Post service was during the 2007 SAME JETC with leadership of the successful off-site fun run- the Philly SAME Boathouse 5k. OBG has participated in many Post committees and events, including the Philly Post Resiliency Committee/Resiliency Symposium (2011-present); Design and Construction Issues at Hazardous Wast Sites Symposium (DCHWS) Planning Committee; Young Professional Development Event (2014-2016); Small Business Conference Committee (2013-2018); Monte Carol Charity Night Committee (2013, 2014,2015)Liberty 2014-2018); Continuing Education Initiative Committee (2014); and the Young Member Events Committee (2014, 2015), National Small Business Conference (2015-2018), and National Post Leaders Workshop (2015, 2018).  In addition, representatives from OBG were elected to the Philadelphia Post Board of Directors 2013, and the company has provided monetary sponsorships for several events.

Young Member Award: Mr. Dan Amate, GZA
in Recognition of Superior Achievement by a Young Member

First becoming a member of the Philadelphia Post in 2012, Mr. Amate volunteered as a mentor for the Young Professional Development Event in 2014. He presented at the Design and Construction Issues at Hazardous Waste Sites Symposium (DCHWS) in 2015 and 2017 and was elected to the Philadelphia Post Board of Directors in 2016. Since then, Dan has become the Deputy Chair of the Outreach Committee and an active member of numerous committees including : DCHWS, Resilience, Run to 2020, and STEM. AS part of Outreach, Dan interacts with the Drexel Student Post to organize the Young Professional Development Event. He recently attended the national Post Leaders Workshop as a representative of the Philadelphia Post, and often volunteers at the registration table at our monthly events.

Notable Achievement Award: Mr. John J. Smith, J.J. Smith Environmental Consultants
in recognition of outstanding contribution to SAME and/or the military engineering profession and its practice

Mr. Smith has 30 years’ experience with the US Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters. As National Design and Construction Engineering Manager for the national Superfund Program, he developed and oversaw management strategy for the $350M/yr. program; analyzed project delivery options for large, complex hazardous waste cleanups; developed and taught training classes for Superfund project manager; and served as senior management liaison to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Smith holds a BS and MS in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Rutgers University. Mr. Smith provides environmental consulting services  to the professional community. He assisted in developing an supporting the SAME/USEPA jointly sponsored professional development symposium- the Design and Construction Issues at Hazardous Waste Sites Symposium (DCHWS)-held annually since 2015. He contributed to the technical program development and event logistics, served as master of ceremonies and is engaged in planning the 2019 programs. The success of this annual event has contributed to support of the SAME Education Mentoring Fund. 

Service Award: Ms. Amy D’Alonzo-Basehoar F. SAME KOMAN Holdings
in Recognition of Extraordinary Effort in Maintaining and Advancing the Objectives of the Post

Ms. D’Alonzo-BAsehoar is active at all levels of SAME. including as an At-Large Director for the Philadelphia Post; Co-Chair for the Steering Committee for the Philadelphia Post’s DCHWS hosted in conjunction wit the USEPA; Regional Fellows Point of Contact for SAME’s North Atlantic Region; Social Media Coordinator for the New Jersey Post; and Member of SAME’s National Awards and Recognition Committee. She has been serving the Society as a member of the National Awards and Recognition Committee since 2008 and in June of 2015 became the Committee’s Chair. Most recently, she was the Chair of the Recognition Committee fort he Baltimore Post, a position she held for 14 years. Amy was elevated to the rank of Fellow by the SAME Academy of Fellows in 2014. This achievement, which  is the highest classification one can receive withing SAME, is a result of Amy’s dedicated and outstanding service to both SAME and the A-E-C profession through out her career. Amy has a distinguished track record as a business development professional and client and proposal manager in the private sector since graduating from Alvernia College with a bachelors’ degree in Marketing and Communications. Amy is also a member of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), Philadelphia; a volunteer with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania; and Chair of the Church of St. Benedict’s Family Life Committee. 

Sustaining Member Firm of the Year: Urban Engineers
in Recognition of Outstanding Contributions to SAME and/or the Military Engineering Profession

Urban Engineers, Inc. (Urban) is an employee-owned, ISO 9001:2008 certified multidisciplinary design, environmental, planning and construction services consulting firm. Founded in 1960, Urban’s 450 employees in 14 offices across the country provide services for facilities, buildings, ports and waterways, public transportation, railroads, airports, utilities, bridges and highways. Urban has been a Sustaining Member of SAME for over 20 years, had employees actively serve on the Philadelphia Post Board of Directors over that period and has had two employees serve as Post President. Urban has been an active, reliable and consistent supporter of numerous SAME functions including the Philadelphia Post’s Liberty Golf Classic and the NYC/NJ Post Golf Outing.

The current Urban member of the Philadelphia Post Board of Directors, Roy Denmark, has been a member of SAME and the Philadelphia Post since 1985, served as Post Secretary from 1986–1991, has served on the Board of Directors since 1999 and served as Post President from 2014–2015. He has served as Co-Chairman of the Philadelphia Post’s Liberty Golf Classic, which is the Post’s primary Scholarship Program fund raiser since its inception in 1987.

Young Member Award: Mr. Michael Badeau, Stell Environmental
in Recognition of Superior Achievement by a Young Member

Michael Badeau first joined SAME and the Philadelphia Post in 2012 after attending a Young Member event that left a lasting impression on him of the Society’s core values and the extraordinary people that perpetuate them. This first impression inspired an active membership and participation in many other Post activities.

Mike has been an active member of the Post’s Small Business Committee, involved in all aspects of the planning and execution of the Post’s Annual Small Business Conference, including communicating with the presenters and hotel IT staff. He also serves on the steering committee for the annual Symposium on Design and Construction Issues at Hazardous Waste Sites hosted by the Post, helping to revive the popular event in 2015 and contribute to its current success of more than 300 attendees annually. In this role he compiles all the presentations and supports the onsite A/V needs during each panel discussion. He works closely with each presenter and the emcee for the two-and-a-half day event. In 2017, the Post sponsored his attendance of the Joint Engineer Training Conference in Columbus, Ohio, for which he served as a volunteer. Because of his successful involvement in Small Business events at the Post level, Mike was recently asked to join the National Small Business Council in assisting the Vice Chair of Communications with providing information relevant to Small Business throughout SAME.

Notable Achievement Award: Mr. Lyle Trumbull, OBG
in recognition of outstanding contribution to SAME and/or the military engineering profession and its practice

Lyle Trumbull is a Senior Technical Director of Emergency Response and Risk Assessment at O’Brien & Gere and has been an active member of the Post since 2005. His first foray into Post service was during the 2007 SAME JETC where he organized the successful off-site fun run—the Philly SAME Boathouse 5K. His next phase of service took the form of participation on the SAME Philly Post Resiliency Committee (2011–2015) where he helped fulfill streamer requirements. He is currently the Chair of the Resiliency Committee and is spearheading the Post’s first Resiliency event scheduled for November 2017. Since 2016, Lyle has been on the planning committee for the DCHWS conference, and has been responsible for organizing the Professional Development Hours for this event. He was elected to the Post Board of Directors in 2013 and is also the Co-Chair of the Program Committee. Finally, Lyle has been the primary organizer for the Philly SAME Young Professionals Development Event at Drexel University since its inception. For three years, this event has provided networking, professional development workshops, and speaker roundtables for SAME young members and STEM students from local universities.

Service Award: Mr. Jeffrey York
in Recognition of Extraordinary Effort in Maintaining and Advancing the Objectives of the Post

Jeff York has been an active member of the Post since 2002, and has served on the Board of Directors since 2005. In 2007, Jeff was instrumental in the success of the National SAME JETC when the Philadelphia Post hosted this event. In addition to serving on the Planning Committee, he acted as the Opening Ceremony Coordinator for this event. No pressure there! He was the presented with a Regional Vice President’s Medal for his outstanding efforts.

Jeff served as Co-Chair for the inaugural Annual Signature Monte Carlo Charity Event in 2008 and continued to serve on the committee for the next six years. As a result of Jeff’s dedication and the support of many individual and sustaining member companies, the Signature Event generated over $40,000 in proceeds to help support wounded veterans and their families in the region. In 2010, Jeff represented the Philadelphia Post by attending the SAME Post Leaders Workshop. He has also served as past Co-Chair for the Young Members Committee, a member of the Nominating Committee, and currently serves on the Finance Committee and Signature Events Committee.

Jeff has always been active in post events, including board meetings, sporting events, Young Member events, and Signature Events. Overall, Jeff’s significant dedication, support, and enthusiasm during his involvement embody the fundamental mission of the SAME Philadelphia Post.

Membership Anniversary Milestones
View the list of Membership Anniversary Milestones.

Event Photos
View the event photos.

Sustaining Member Firm of the Year: CDM Smith

CDM Smith is an employee-owned international water, environmental, transportation, energy and facilities company serving federal, commercial, state and local clients since 1947, with 5200 professionals in over 100 offices. CDM has been a Sustaining Member of SAME for over 25 years. CDM is a SAME Silver Partner, supporting over 40 posts where its employees are active contributors, serving on the Board of at least ten. This year alone, CDM staff are in leading roles for the Mobile, Omaha and Boston Industry Days, Design and Construction Issues at Hazardous Waste Sites (DCHWS) Philadelphia, DCHWS West (Denver), the Seattle Programs Committee, and the New Jersey Scholarship Committee. CDM also has seven Fellows and one national Board Member, and Federal Unit President, Gwen Baker, is a participant in the SAME CEO Roundtable.

Here in Philadelphia, Jim Romig has been Treasurer since 2008, and Rad Delaney serves as a Senior Active Director. Two years ago, CDM personnel from Philadelphia and New Jersey took the lead in reanimating DCHWS which evolved into an event that has been successful for the Philadelphia Post, turning a profit for both years, bringing in new sustaining members, increasing individual member interest, and expanding to other cities as well. The first DCHWS West is scheduled for this October.

Young Member Award: Mr. Gordon G. Araujo Jr, REGENESIS

Gordon Araujo has been a member of the Philadelphia Post since graduating college in 2006. In 2015, Gordon was appointed the post webmaster and elected to the Board of Directors. He chairs the Communication Committee and is also a member of the Young Member Committee, the Small Business Committee, and the Membership Committee. As Communication Chair, Gordon modernized post communication and event registration efforts, reorganized the committee, and implemented a new communication program utilizing social media, tracking, email engagement, migrating the post webpage to the SAME National website, and scheduling event messaging to post membership. Gordon’s efforts on all his committees have been critical to the success of post events. He was also on the steering committee for the DCHWS conference, managing their communication efforts and is now on the steering committee for the NJ/NY Post North Atlantic Industry Day, which will be held in October

Notable Achievement Award: USACE, Philadelphia District

After Hurricane Sandy, the USACE Philadelphia District team faced the task of clearing critical shoals from federal coastal navigation channels and tackled the added challenge of beneficially using dredged material to restore marsh and build coastal resilience. These efforts used a Regional Sediment Management approach and used Engineering with Nature techniques which required significant collaboration between partners from federal, state and local governments, private industry, and non-governmental organizations. The team came together quickly, seizing opportunities to make these projects happen using post-Sandy Operations and Maintenance emergency supplemental funds and, in some cases, leveraged grant money from partners.

Completed work includes clearing critical shoals from the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway with placement to create successful nesting bird and other species habitat on Ring Island, NJ, completed in 2014; a thin-layer placement project to restore degraded marsh near Avalon, NJ, completed in 2016; and a critical marsh restoration project at Mordecai Island, NJ, completed in 2016. These projects now serve as models for future efforts to accomplish missions within the district and across the country.

The Philadelphia District has always been an integral part of the Philadelphia Post, helping to achieve the SAME vision of uniting the public and private sector.

Service Award: Mr. Jerald A. Jones, USACE Philadelphia District

Jerry Jones has been an active member of the post since 1994, and has been on the Board of Directors since 1997. Jerry has been the primary organizer of the Liberty Classic Golf Tournament since 1997. The Liberty Classic is the key fund-raising event that supports the Post Scholarship Fund. In 2007, when the National SAME JETC was hosted by the Philadelphia Post, Jerry coordinated with two different golf courses to accommodate the number of participants.

As a result of Jerry’s dedication and the support of many sustaining member companies and other involved organizations, the Liberty Classic has been able to generate over $200,000 in proceeds to benefit the Scholarship Fund over the past 20 years. Jerry has risen to the challenge of keeping the event relevant and interesting to continue its past successes. He has always been active in post events including board meetings, sporting events, young member events, and signature events. He represents the Philadelphia District Corps of Engineers’ support for SAME and encourages others in the District to participate as well.

2015

• Sustaining Member Firm of the Year: TTI Environmental, Inc
• Young Member Award: James S. Blake II (OBG) 
• Notable Achievement Award: COL Andrew G. Wilcox (USMC) 
• Service Award: James M. Romig (CDM Smith)

2014

• Sustaining Member Firm of the Year: Weston
• Young Member Award: Kierston Koory, Lewis Environmental
• Notable Achievement Award: Rad Delaney, AECOM
• Service Award: CAPT Charlie Shields, USN

2013

• Sustaining Member Firm of the Year: Dewberry
• Young Member Award: Wendy Parker, AMEC
• Notable Achievement Award: COL George Cressman, Bohler Engineering
• Service Award: Karen Buniak, TTI Environmental