NCEES honored the contributions of the 2024 service award recipients at its 103rd annual meeting on August 16, 2024. Below are the profiles of each award recipient.
Pastor Farinas, P.E., of Rockville, Maryland, has been awarded the NCEES Distinguished Service Award for his dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering profession. Farinas was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Farinas has been supporting NCEES and its mission since 2006, when he first began serving as a member of the Committee on Examination Policy and Procedures. His service has spanned 2006 to 2023, including serving as a member of the Committee on Law Enforcement, Committee on Finances, Committee on Nominations, and Committee on Examinations for Professional Engineers.
Farinas has been a member of the Maryland State Board for Professional Engineers since 2005. During this time, he has served as secretary of the board and chair of the complaint committee. He has dedicated his career to advancing licensure through his work with engineering students involving one-on-one mentorship.
With over 57 years of engineering experience, Farinas has been an engineer with Potomac Electric Power Co., a chief electrical inspector in Montgomery County, Maryland, and a consulting engineer and partner for an MEP firm; and he designed portions of the third rail for the Washington area rapid transit system. For the last 13 years, he has been an independent consultant.
Chun Lau, P.E., S.E., of Bellevue, Washington, has been awarded the NCEES Distinguished Service Award for his dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering and surveying professions. Lau was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Lau first began serving NCEES as a member of the Principles and Practice of Engineering Structural Exam Development Committee in 2004 and served on its most recent professional activities and knowledge study, or PAKS, committee. His past contributions include being a member of the Sustainable Buildings Task Force, the Committee on Examinations for Professional Engineers, the Committee on Examination Policy and Procedures, the Special Committee on Bylaws, and the Committee on Finances. Additionally, he served as a jury member for the NCEES Engineering Education Award in 2011. Lau served as 2016–18 Western Zone assistant vice president and received the Western Zone Distinguished Service Award in 2019. He is currently the Participating Organizations Liaison Council representative for the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE.
Lau was chair of the Washington State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors in 2010–11 and 2015–16 and was vice chair in 2009–10 and 2014–15. Lau has served as a pro tem board member since 2020 and is an emeritus member. He has filled various roles for the board, such as standing committee chair and board observer for the ABET visitation team to the University of Washington.
With over 40 years of experience, Lau recently retired from Brown and Caldwell as managing principal. He is a registered structural engineer in California, Massachusetts, and Washington. Lau is an active member of the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations and the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE. He is currently vice chair of the NCSEA Education Committee, a member of the NCSEA Licensure Committee, and chair of the SEI SE Licensure Committee.
Denise Chastain-Knight, P.E., of Martinez, Georgia, has been awarded the NCEES Distinguished Examination Service Award for her dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering profession. Chastain-Knight was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Chastain-Knight first began serving NCEES as a member of the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Chemical Exam Development Committee in 2000. She has served in various leadership roles within the committee, such as vice chair and chair from 2005 to 2011.
She was an influential leader in the PE Chemical exam’s transition from pencil-and-paper format to computer- based testing, which was completed in 2018. Her other contributions include providing content for the PE Chemical Reference Handbook, working on the subcommittee to develop the handbook, and contributing to the continued improvement of the “Plant Design and Operations” chapter. She has also led and recruited members for the team that developed the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Body of Knowledge for Chemical Engineers, which directly impacted the content and skills within the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum required to practice competently.
Chastain-Knight has more than 38 years of experience in engineering design, process improvements, process risk analysis, and safety instrumented system implementation. She was voted Georgia’s Young Engineer of the Year in 1994 and is an AIChE Fellow. She is currently a senior functional safety engineer with exida Engineering LLC.
Raymond Jacquot, Ph.D., P.E., of Laramie, Wyoming, has been awarded the NCEES Distinguished Examination Service Award for his dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering profession. Jacquot was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Jacquot contributed to the development of the FE exam for 25 years, beginning in 1990. During this time, he served terms as chair and vice chair of the FE Electrical and Computer subcommittee.
Jacquot was part of an exciting time in NCEES history when in 1995, the Council approved adding discipline- specific modules to the FE exam. In 1996, he was integral in the development of the FE Electrical and Computer exam and assisted in the transition.
After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wyoming and earning his doctoral degree from Purdue University, he went on to develop areas of expertise in vibration and structural dynamics, control, simulation, and animation of dynamic systems. In 2007, Jacquot was recognized as the Wyoming Engineering Society Outstanding Engineer for his long and dedicated service to the engineering profession, society, and people of Wyoming.
Avocationally, Jacquot is a former rock climber and mountaineer who later became interested in the exploration of canyons on the Colorado Plateau of Utah. In retirement, he has become a landscape painter of the scenes that he visited as a mountaineer and canyon explorer.
Wendell (Chris) King, Ph.D., P.E., of Franklin, Tennessee, has been awarded the NCEES Distinguished Examination Service Award for his dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering profession. King was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
King began his service as an exam volunteer in 1993, serving as an American Society of Civil Engineers subject- matter expert to NCEES until 1998. He has continued his service as a volunteer for the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Environmental Exam Development Committee, where he has been an item writer, item reviewer, exam grader, and mentor to younger members of the committee. King most recently volunteered his expertise for a professional activities and knowledge study, or PAKS, to update the specifications for the PE Environmental exam.
Brigadier General (retired) King served on active duty for 34 years and was an Army senior civilian for an additional 10 years. His active service included deployments in the Middle East and Afghanistan. He is a former professor
and head of the department of geography and environmental engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is dean emeritus of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. King’s highest military award is the Army Distinguished Service Medal. He has been an adjunct faculty member at numerous universities and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Kansas State University in 2019 for his lifetime of service to higher education.
King is an expert in water and wastewater treatment and hazardous waste.
Jon Rueck, P.E., of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, has been awarded the NCEES Distinguished Examination Service Award for his dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering profession. Rueck was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Rueck has been serving NCEES for the past 28 years as a member of the Principles and Practice of Engineering Environmental Exam Development Committee. He is an expert in air pollution, solid waste management, and radioactivity. With his many years of volunteer experience, he is also a subject-matter expert regarding the knowledge and history of the committee.
While personal matters have precluded Rueck from attending in-person meetings, he continues his commitment to NCEES and future environmental engineers through participation in virtual exam development meetings. He hopes to return to in-person meetings in the future.
Rueck is a lifetime member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. He has a bachelor of science degree in nuclear engineering and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering, both from Kansas State University. Additionally, he has volunteered as a purchase coordinator for the Benford International School of Abuja, Nigeria, and as a disaster response coordinator for the Kansas East Conference United Methodist Church.
Cameron Wright, Ph.D., P.E., of Laramie, Wyoming, has been awarded the NCEES Distinguished Examination Service Award for his dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering profession. Wright was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Wright has been serving NCEES as a volunteer for the Principles and Practice of Engineering Electrical and Computer Exam Development Committee since 2000. During this time, he has taken on leadership roles, including chairing the exam’s Computer subcommittee, acting as a subject-matter expert, and writing exam questions.
Wright has continued his service through various positions with many engineering organizations. He served as chair of the IEEE-USA National Committee for Engineering Licensure and Registration from 2003 to 2005 and currently serves as an active member of that committee. He has also been an ABET program evaluator since 2001 and serves as a training mentor for new evaluators.
While on active duty with the U.S. Air Force, Wright was a faculty member and deputy department head for electrical engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy. After retiring from a 30-year military career, Wright transitioned to a civilian teaching career. He has spent the last 22 years impacting students at the University of Wyoming, serving as a professor, associate department head, interim department head, and dean of the college of engineering and physical sciences.
NCEES Chief Executive Officer David Cox, of Greenville, South Carolina, has been awarded the NCEES President’s Award for his dedicated service to the organization and the engineering and surveying professions. Cox was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Cox was named the chief executive officer of NCEES at the organization’s 2018 annual meeting. During his tenure as CEO, he has led the organization in several history-making events.
In 1981, NCEES headquarters was built on Clemson University property. After several renovations and expansions, the organization’s needs had outgrown the space and the land. Cox led the charge to purchase and renovate the current NCEES headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina. In May 2020, during a worldwide pandemic, the organization moved into its new headquarters.
In 2011, NCEES began the process of transitioning exams from pencil-and-paper format to computer-based testing. In 2014, the first exams were transitioned to CBT. In 2020, under Cox’s leadership, the transition plan was accelerated to meet the needs of examinees during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2024, the transition of all exams to CBT was completed.
Cox has been committed to addressing threats against licensure’s public protections. In 2019, NCEES became a founding member of the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing, an organization that provides a unified voice for the accounting, architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and surveying professions. NCEES continues to work with industry partners and member boards to ensure that the professions’ current licensure protections remain.
Cox was instrumental in the establishment of the NCEES Foundation, which launched in March 2024. The Foundation was established to further support the organization’s mission initiatives as well as to consolidate and formalize funding requests and financial contributions.
Under Cox’s leadership, the development of a mutual recognition agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom came to fruition in 2024. The MRA is intended to provide a more direct path for licensed engineers to practice in each country.
Cox previously served as executive director of the Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors from 2001 to 2018. During this time, he was also active in the work of NCEES. He served 10 terms on the organization’s Committee on Finances, including two as chair. He also served as a member of the Committee on Member Board Administrators, the Advisory Committee on Council Activities, the Governance Task Force, and the Licensure Qualifications Oversight Group. In 2014, NCEES awarded him the Meritorious Service Award in recognition of his contributions to the organization and the professions of engineering and surveying.
Cox holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting from the University of Kentucky and is licensed as a certified public accountant in Kentucky.
Patty Mamola, P.E., of Reno, Nevada, has been awarded the NCEES President’s Award for her dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering and surveying professions. Mamola was recognized August 16, 2024, during the organization’s 103rd annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Mamola served as NCEES president in 2013–14, the first woman to hold the position since the organization’s founding in 1920. She also served as 2010–12 Western Zone vice president.
As a member of the board of directors from 2010 to 2015, Mamola served as board liaison to a number of committees and task forces, including the Committee on Uniform Procedures and Legislative Guidelines, the Committee on Member Board Administrators, and the Industrial Exemption Task Force. In 2016, Mamola was awarded the NCEES Distinguished Service Award for her dedicated service to NCEES and the engineering and surveying professions.
Her other contributions to NCEES include being a member of the Bachelor’s Plus 30 Task Force, the Engineering Education Task Force, and the Surveying Exam Module Task Force. She also served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Council Activities and the Committee on Awards. Additionally, she chaired the Committee
on Nominations and the Financial Reserves Task Force. She has been a member of the Principles and Practice of Engineering Civil Exam Development Committee since 2006.
Mamola was a member of the Nevada State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors from 2006 to 2015. During this time, she served two terms as chair and was a member of the board’s Legislative and Public Relations committees. She was named executive director of the Nevada board in 2016.
Her focus on improving mobility, diversity, and public outreach for the engineering profession extends beyond Mamola’s work with NCEES. She currently serves as deputy chair of the International Engineering Alliance, having previously served as chair to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Engineer Agreement. She has been a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers Committee on Policy and Advocacy since 2015 and chaired its subcommittee on policy development from 2015 to 2018. In 2014, Engineers Canada designated her a Fellow in recognition of her efforts to improve international mobility.
Licensed as a professional engineer in Nevada since 1993, Mamola has focused her engineering career on transportation, construction management, and analytical problem solving. In recent years, she has focused on improving the regulatory environment and eliminating unnecessary barriers to professional licensure. She is the founding principal of PLM Group, a global microenterprise focused on improving mobility, diversity, and public outreach for the engineering profession.
Mamola is a graduate of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.