Dec. 14, 2005, wasn’t one of Missouri’s best days.

Randy Holman, credited with overseeing the surge in military construction activity at San Antonio’s Fort Sam Houston prompted by mandated base realignment, describes the program as “fast-moving, complex and dynamic.” Photo: Courtesy U.S. Army Expansion of Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio will create a nationwide military burn and trauma facility. Related Links: The Top 25 Newsmakers of 2010 When completed by September as required by Congress, the $3-billion effort will have built or renovated nearly 10 million sq ft of U.S. Defense Dept. space to become the nationwide center of training for all enlisted combat medics, says Holman,

Steve Underwood, project manager with joint venture MTI, is orchestrating the span-by-span lift and assembly sequence for superstructure erection on the $1.2-billion widening of the Huey P. Long Bridge over the Mississippi River at New Orleans.

For Timothy A. Reinhold, senior vice president of research and chief engineer at the Institute for Business and Home Safety’s newly commissioned, $40-million test facility in Chester County, S.C., the hurricane that blew through the lab on Oct. 18 and tore a two-story house to shreds was a joy to behold.

After more than 30 years of research, invention, fieldwork and development, civil engineer Alan P. Jeary finally saw the hardware and software he developed commercialized in 2010.

The ancient Inca built a complex system of roads that span some 20,000 miles and range in altitude from sea level to 14,000 feet, all without the benefit of special tools or even a formal writing system.

Dr. David Rempel led a team of researchers from the University of California in San Francisco and Berkeley that developed an 'inverted' drill press.

Following Hurricane Katrina’s 2005 attack on New Orleans, the best minds in the international water-resources industry began seeking innovative ways to rebuild the city’s storm-surge defenses.

While a penniless college student in Texas, Hong Kong native Dennis C.K. Poon’s first gig in the U.S. paid $2 an hour.