Congratulations to our outstanding Lyles School of Civil Engineering alumni who were recognized with the Civil Engineering Alumni Achievement Award (CEAAA) and the Distinguished Engineering Alumni (DEA) Award. Our alumni have a long, proud history of excellence and this year's awardees could not be more deserving of these recognitions.

From left to right: Jalal A. Nafakh, Erin J. Flanigan, Nancy E. Uridil

2023 DEA Recipients

Jalal A. Nafakh (BSCE ’83, MSCE ’84, PhD CE ’87)
Chief Transportation Planner, Royal Commission for Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

Beginning his career as a transportation planner with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), Nafakh rose through the ranks to his current position of chief transportation planner. In this role, he has been involved in the promotion, mobilization and management of major projects for the betterment of RCRC. For the Riyadh 2030 project, he presided over the multi-disciplinary task force formed to shape city policy to ensure sustainable growth.

Erin J. Flanigan (BSCE ’87)
Principal, Transportation Operations and Safety, Applied Research Associates Inc.

Flanigan is considered a national expert in transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) that advance emerging technology applications to improve the safety and mobility of the transportation system. She has been in the consulting engineering industry her whole career supporting a wide range of public sector clients. Her work has helped State DOTs shift from being builders of our roadway system to agencies focused on managing and operating the transportation system.

Nancy E. Uridil (BSCE ’74)
Independent Director, FHLB Cincinnati

Throughout her career, Uridil leveraged her engineering degree and experience opening doors to becoming a multi-sector global executive. For 40 years — 18 of which were spent as a senior vice president on executive teams — Uridil built global supply chains, innovative organizations, iconic brands and multiple new products. As senior vice president of Global Operations at Moen, Uridil had the privilege of leading more than 2,500 people and a $880 million budget.

2023 CEAAA Recipients

From left to right: Mark E. Bernhardt (BSCE ’91), president and CEO, Burgess and Niple, Inc.; Christopher B. Gale (BSCE ’95), Great Lakes Division President, HNTB Corporation; Carol J. Drucker (BSCE ’85), principal, Drucker Zajdel Structural Engineers; Robert M. Scaer (BSCE ’82), Chief Executive Officer, Gannett Fleming Inc.; James A. Soltesz (BSCE ’76), President and CEO, Soltesz Inc.