Top 25 Newsmakers

Award of Excellence Winner Judaline Cassidy: Empowering Girls to Consider Careers in Construction

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:00:00 -0400

First-generation immigrant is changing industry perceptions and leading girls to pursue new paths for the future.

Jorge Vizcaya: Led Development and Implementation of a Novel, Sustainable Changeover Solution for a Soccer Field

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Sener architect Jorge Vizcaya likens the company’s patented retractable system to use and store a stadium soccer field to installing a car engine.

Nicola Valiante: Led Development of a First-of-Kind Solution to Improve Safety and Efficiency on Mega Wastewater Treatment Plant

mcfarlandp@enr.com (Pam McFarland) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Nicola Valiante, engineering-director of design services for Milan, Italy-based Webuild S.p.A, has always been interested to find better ways to do things.

Col. Eric R. Swenson: Built Trust Among Disaster Survivors and Expedited Wildfire Cleanup

blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

From a young age, Col. Eric R. Swenson found himself drawn to construction and earthmoving equipment,“so much so that as a child I once lost my parents on a family bike ride after stopping to watch the Army Corps of Engineers dredging operations in Ocean City, N.J.,” Swenson says.

Josh Rizzo: Using Military and Construction Experience to Tackle the Mental Health Crisis in the Industry

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

All it took was the look on the face of his wife. Josh Rizzo, a Brooklyn native, had pulled out of a tough childhood with a steamfitter father who was incarcerated.

James Perry: Executive Focuses on Scaling an Innovative Water-saving Firm to New Heights

mcfarlandp@enr.com (Pam McFarland) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

James Perry, the San Diego-based CEO of Israeli water consultant ASTERRA, has long been fascinated by disruptive technologies.

Nick Pemberton: MATT Construction Project Manager Sourced Equipment to Fight the Altadena Wildfires

yodersj@enr.com (Jeff Yoders) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Like other residents of Altadena, Calif., MATT Construction Senior Project Manager Nick Pemberton didn’t know that the days after Jan. 7, 2025 would irrevocably change his and his neighbors’ lives.

Harmon Parker: Founded Bridging the Gap Africa, Building Bridges for Isolated Rural Communities in Kenya

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Harmon Parker was building a school for a remote village in Kenya in the mid ’90s when the director of a non-governmental organization came to him and his partner with a request.

Lanessa L. Owens-Chaplin: Pushed New York Dept. of Transportation Engineers to Think Beyond Federal Air-Quality Standards

jriceenr@gmail.com (Justin Rice) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Launching an environmental justice case in Syracuse, N.Y. in 2018, Lanessa Owens-Chaplin looked beyond her lawsuit against the $2.3-billion plan to replace the aging Interstate 81 viaduct bisecting a historically Black neighborhood.

Chris Olsen: California Municipal Exec is Core to Major Work on the Two Largest US Water Treatment Projects to Reduce PFAS

rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Orange County Water District manager is key manager of design and construction to restore quality of its 270-sq-mile groundwater basin—a $1.8B effort, at least. over the next three decades to cut contamination in supply for a major West Coast population hub.

René Morkos: Makes Artificial Intelligence Work for Contractors for an Industrialized Future

yodersj@enr.com (Jeff Yoders) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

René Morkos is a second-generation civil engineer who has worked on underwater pipeline construction, automation engineering on a $350-million gas refinery expansion project in Abu Dhabi and as a project manager in Afghanistan.

Marko Medved: Oversees San Diego County's Transformation into One of the Nation's Leading Builders of Sustainable Facilities

judys@enr.com (Scott Judy) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Medved has elevated San Diego County as one of the nation’s leading builders of highly sustainable public facilities.

John Largay: Founded a Long-Running Charity Music Festival that has Made $5 Million in Donations and Boosted Camaraderie Among Subcontractors

blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

About a decade after founding Wespac Construction in 1991 in Phoenix, which has grown to be one of ENR’s Top 400 Contractors, John Largay thought about how he could give back to his community that had so greatly benefited him.

Todd Keller: Pushed for Collaborative Delivery of a Crucial Bridge in the Alaskan Wilderness

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Todd Keller could not decide what he wanted to do career-wise as he neared the end of his stint at a college preparatory school in the late ’80s. “I struggled with what I wanted to be when I grew up,” he recalls.

Abigail Ross Hopper: Forcefully Championed U.S. Solar Power Development

rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Abigail Ross Hopper, the outgoing president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, has been the face and voice of the influential clean power advocacy group since she took the top role in 2017, and widely credited for the sector’s huge growth over nearly a decade.

Louis P. Grasso Jr.: Scaling Use of Locally Sourced Waste Glass Pozzolan to Replace 40% of Cement in Manhattan Tower

rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

As the sustainability movement took hold in construction a quarter-century ago, concrete maker Louis P. Grasso Jr. was nudged by its leaders to gain a competitive edge by producing a pozzolan made from locally sourced recycled glass to reduce cement’s carbon content.

Michael Goetz: Led Joint-Venture Team to Deliver Critical Rail Tunnel Rebuild in Baltimore Two Years Ahead of Schedule

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

On the project to partially reconstruct the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore for railroad company CSX Corp., Skanska Project Manager Michael Goetz found the way forward to deliver the project safely while cutting two years off the original timeline

Karina Dailey: Led an Effort to Remove a State Record of Nine Dams to Reclaim the State's Floodplain

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Karina Dailey understands the devastating impacts of Vermont’s historic 2023 flooding as well as anyone.

Christina Cassotis: Led the Successful Revival of the Pittsburgh International Airport

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Christina Cassotis was born into aviation, with a father who served as a Marine fighter pilot flying Douglas A4s in Vietnam and then came home to fly for Pan Am Airlines.

Judaline Cassidy: First Generation Immigrant Plumber Breaks Down Stereotypes, Empowering Girls to Pursue Careers in Construction

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Abandoned as a child and raised by her great-grandmother in Trinidad and Tobago, Judaline Cassidy dreamed of doing something impactful with her life.

Brian K. Carroll: Advocates and Helps Contractors with Court Briefs and an Important Legal Victory

kormanr@enr.com (Richard Korman) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

An attorney whose wide range of activities advocating and helping subcontractors includes court briefs and an important legal victory in 2025.

Allison L.C. de Cerreño: Key Leader During New York City's Effort to Enact the First U.S. Congestion Pricing Program

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Served in key leadership role during critical final stages of New York City’s effort to enact the first U.S. congestion pricing program, raising revenue to improve public transportation.

Cassidy Blowers: Led a Team on an Effort to Improve Highway Workzone Safety

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Led a team of state transportation agencies, contractors and technology providers on an effort to improve highway workzone safety with telematics data collected from construction equipment.

David K. Beesley: Deployed Trenchless Method Called Spiral Wound Lining on a Manhattan Sewer Project

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Deployed trenchless method called spiral wound lining on a Manhattan sewer project to mitigate disruptive effects of conventional open-trench repairs, including allowing the sewer to remain in service during construction.

Atorod Azizinamini: Developed Spray System for Ultra-High Performance Concrete

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Developed spray system for ultra-high performance concrete—providing a faster, more efficient and longer-lasting solution for repair of corroded bridge walls, columns and girder ends without formwork.

Nick Almeter: Led Team that Conceived Innovative Gantry System Idea to Place Prefabricated Bridge Segments

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Led team that conceived the idea for an innovative gantry system to place prefabricated bridge segments, enabling the first, $590-million phase of the Park Avenue Viaduct replacement to finish 21 months ahead of schedule.

ENR's 2025 Top 25 Newsmakers

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:15:00 -0500

Recognizing the individuals who went above and beyond in 2025 to impact the industry and their communities.

Award of Excellence Winner Mark Pestrella: Public Service Savant Leads in Time of Crisis

blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 17:00:00 -0400

Pestrella has spent his entire 38-year career at LA County Public Works, making his way up from field hydrologist to director.

Robert Wood: Leading the Task of Removing Old Dock Structures Safely Despite Challenges

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

When McCarthy Building Cos. won the $57-million job to demolish a failed dock structure and build a new general cargo dock at the Port of Beaumont, Texas, “we were surprised,” says senior project manager Robert Wood.

Pranaya Shrestha: Brought Caltrain's $2-billion Electrification Project to Completion

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

When Pranaya Shrestha’s father immigrated to the United States from Nepal in 1976, he sacrificed a prestigious government position and worked seven days a week operating a grocery store in Minnesota.