After earning her graduate architecture degree at the University of Texas– Austin, she joined McKinney York. A promotion and citation as Young Architectural Professional of the Year by the American Institute of Architects' Austin chapter soon followed. Rossomando has since become a firm owner and principal, leading its project management and human resources. She has designed numerous university projects, including the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History Renovation.

As a mother of two young children, Rossomando believes that work-life balance is essential. "I bring a 'work smarter, not harder' orientation to the firm ," she says. "I think it has a positive influence on our whole group."

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SARGENT

Matthew D. Sargent
Signature military jobs are boot camp for Corps project manager
36, Supervisory Electrical Engineer
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
San Antonio, Texas

Matthew Sargent's journey through the Texas construction industry began during high school, when he worked as a laborer on a concrete crew during the summer before his senior year. After that early start, Sargent continued to mix in on-the-job training with his academic education by working as a laborer, electrician, electrical draftsmen and designer before graduating with an engineering degree from Texas Tech University.

Since then, Sargent's professional career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in San Antonio has continued to progress. In 2005, he became chief of the Corps' special projects team at Fort Sam Houston, where he worked on base closure projects. Sargent also served in various capacities on the $900-million San Antonio Military Medical Center project, now the largest U.S. military hospital and its only Level 1 trauma center.

"I always loved going back to the places that I helped construct," says Sargent. "I always had a great sense of pride walking through the completed facilities marveling at the transformation."

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SMITH

Trooper Smith II
Design executive stays on the run for firm, clients and industry peers
35, Group Manager, Principal
Freese and Nichols
Fort Worth, Texas

Trooper Smith has led teams to deliver innovative, cost-effective solutions for Texas water and wastewater infrastructure in his role at engineer Freese and Nichols. His work for the firm and its clients has not gone unnoticed. Smith was named a principal last year at age 35, one of the youngest of the 46 principals who lead the 535-person firm.

His career with Freese and Nichols began right after his graduation from Texas Tech University in 2000 with bachelor's and master's degrees in environmental engineering. Smith has long been a project manager responsible for treatment and pump station design for a variety of projects for the Trinity River Authority, the San Antonio Water System and the City of Corpus Christi.

With leadership a 24/7 commitment, Smith is often seen organizing fundraising walks and runs for the company and team-building programs for the Water Environment Association of Texas, among other activities. Ever on the move, he is currently opening a new Freese and Nichols office in San Marcos.

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STINSON

Morgan W. Stinson
Firm's former engineer-in-training now manages millions in fees
35, Principal
EEA Consulting Engineers
Austin, Texas

Since joining EEA Consulting Engineers in 2001 as an engineer-in-training, Morgan Stinson has steadily advanced in responsibility and was promoted to principal last year. He has managed more than $3 million in engineering fees over the past five years for the firm's institutional, commercial and industrial clients, and has helped grow the firm's energy conservation business

Stinson led the unique MEP design for the $60-million Caliber Biotherapeutics Vaccine manufacturing facility in Bryan, Texas, in which scientists grow millions of live plants to manufacture plant-based vaccines.

Stinson also is serving a two-year term as vice chairman for the U.S. Green Buildings Council in central Texas. "I have a strong interest in designing buildings that are as resource efficient as possible, and that mission dovetails nicely both with what the LEED rating system is trying to advance, as well as my firm's long standing history with energy conservation work," he says.