Seven alumni from the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have been elected to the Academy of Distinguished Alumni.
The department established the Academy of Distinguished Alumni to acknowledge the professional achievements and contributions of its graduates. Twenty-seven charter members were inducted into the academy in 2003, and over 100 additional members have been selected since.
These distinguished graduates are recognized for their expertise in their fields, research and education advancements, and strong leadership qualities. The 2017 honorees are J.J. Roger Cheng, David T. Covarrubias, L. Patrick Flynn, Jr., Rashed Islam, David H. Nicastro, Andrew W. Taylor, and John A. Wooley.
“The members of our Academy of Distinguished Alumni shine a bright light on our community, inspiring current and future students to one day weave the physical fabric of society, to shape our world in such a way that benefits humankind and the environment,” said Department Chair Richard Corsi. “Our CAEE community is fortunate to have such a distinguished group of alumni that we can call our own and look to with pride. The class of 2017 adds much to the wide and deep accomplishments of the Academy.”
Meet the 2017 inductees:
J.J. Roger Cheng
M.S., Civil Engineering 1981, Ph.D. 1984
C.W. Carry Professor of Steel Structures,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta
Roger Cheng is a visionary leader in civil engineering education and research and an internationally recognized structural engineer. He served as chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta for 15 years while maintaining an active and diverse structural engineering research program in traditional steel structures, energy steel pipelines, and innovative and intelligent structures. Under his leadership, the department transformed into a progressive, research-intensive department that attracts world-class talent and top students.
J.J. Roger Cheng, alumnus of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Cheng began his research as a Ph.D. student at UT Austin under the supervision of Dr. Joe Yura. AISC and the British Steel Code adopted this method as the recommended method. In 1984, he joined the University of Alberta as an assistant professor.
Cheng is an award-winning expert in structural stability, connections, fiber-reinforced polymers, and structural health monitoring. He is currently involved with structural health monitoring using fiber optic sensors and has instrumented several bridges and buried pipelines in Alberta for data acquisition and management.
He has published research on gusset place connections, energy dissipaters for concentric braced frames, strength of tension members, and ductile fracture of steel structures. He also has an extensive publications list related to buried energy pipelines, including repair techniques using fiber-reinforced polymer sleeves.
During his multi-year tenure as department chair, Cheng successfully grew student enrollment and nearly doubled the number of faculty, making it the largest civil engineering department in Canada. He also enhanced the student and faculty experience by helping to mold a culture of collaboration and by making stronger connections with industry partners to increase funding and growth.
The department is also known for its teaching excellence and innovations. In 2005, he oversaw the department’s move into a nine-story state-of-the-art teaching and research space and invested $5 million in upgrading teaching laboratories.
Cheng is a Fellow of The Canadian Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. He also shares his research and knowledge by serving on numerous technical committees and professional organizations.
David T. Covarrubias
M.S., Civil Engineering 1988
CEO, Structural Engineering Associates, Inc.
For nearly 30 years, David Covarrubias has excelled in structural engineering on bridge and building projects. As CEO of Structural Engineering Associates (SEA), Inc., the leading bridge design firm in Texas, he is an outstanding and inventive engineer and business manager. Under his guidance, the firm has received national bridge design awards.
David Covarrubias, alumnus of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Covarrubias completed his master’s degree at UT Austin with a focus on structural engineering and was advised by Dr. Ned Burns. He has spent his entire professional career working at SEA, Inc., the firm founded by his father, the late Jesse Covarrubias. After graduation, he started as an Engineer at the firm and worked his way up to his current executive position.
Covarrubias is an authority in the design of span and structural steel bridges and has developed new, innovative prestressed concrete beam types as well as software for the bridges he designed.
As project manager and structural designer, Covarrubias has been directly involved in several national, award-winning projects, including the Santa Ursula Connector, Loop 340 Overpass, World Trade International Bridge and Border Facilities, and the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. Other notable projects include the Alamodome, the San Antonio International Airport parking garage and the Loop 410 and Highway 281 Interchange.
He is especially proud of the projects that presented challenges, such as designing bridges for large, heavy construction vehicles. Covarrubias feels that his greatest professional accomplishment is the design and construction of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, a three-mile-long structure crossing the Rio Grande River in Pharr, Texas.
Covarrubias also regularly shares his expertise with professional societies and gives back to his city of San Antonio through civic activities. He is active in the American Institute of Steel Construction, the San Antonio Mobility Coalition and Transportation Advocates of Texas.
L. Patrick Flynn, Jr.
B.S., Architectural Engineering 1981
President/CEO, Flynn Construction, Inc.
Patrick Flynn has been at the forefront of Austin’s development for more than thirty years of rapid growth and expansion. Throughout his career as a general contractor and dedicated volunteer, he has helped build Austin. Committed to furthering the field of architectural engineering, he has built his own firm with a first-rate reputation for excellence in safety, green building and business ethics.
L. Patrick Flynn, Jr., alumnus of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
The son of two World War II Navy Veterans, Flynn grew up in New York state and developed a deep love for water and sailing. He came to UT to study architectural engineering and is very grateful to the university for giving him a solid educational foundation for success in engineering and construction management.
After starting his career as a structural engineer, he worked throughout Texas and completed advanced business training through the executive business program at UT. As the story goes, he started his own company at his kitchen table with $5,000 he received from a tax return.
In 1986, he founded Flynn Construction, Inc., a diversified general contracting firm with expertise in commercial building construction. The company specializes in designing and building highly complex, technical spaces such as cleanroom labs and facilities for advanced microelectronics, nanotechnology and life science DNA genetic research. For many years, Flynn Construction has been a consistently top-ranked Austin area contractor.
As the semiconductor industry grew in Central Texas in the 1990s, Flynn Construction emerged as the leader in advanced technology microelectronic labs and cleanroom construction. With the recent emergence of the life science industry in the area, the company is again leading the field as the expert in highly complex technical projects in genetic research and life science. During his career, Flynn and his company have completed the design and construction of over 100 labs and cleanroom facilities.
Flynn Construction has a long list of completed projects on the UT campus, including the cryo-electron microscope and x-ray crystallography lab in the Norman Hackerman Building and the computer lab renovation at McComb’s School of Business.
Rashed Islam
M.S., Civil Engineering 1996
Vice President, Managing Principal, HDR Engineering, Inc.
Passionate about enhancing the transportation system, Rashed Islam has been instrumental in implementing innovative, congestion-relieving ideas in Central Texas, some of which are the first of their kind in the state. He is a vice president at HDR Inc., a global architectural, engineering and consulting firm where he manages the company’s traffic engineering program in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana and oversees the firm’s Central Texas Business Operations.
Rashed Islam, alumnus of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
After completing his Master’s degree from the CAEE Department in 1996, Islam started working as an EIT at WHM Transportation Engineering Consultants, Inc. in Austin and became a principal before WHM was acquired by HDR in 2006.
Islam has worked in the Texas transportation industry for more than twenty years. His inventiveness and balanced approach to solving traffic congestion problems have made him a trusted advisor for many of his clients, including TxDOT, Williamson County, the City of Austin, Round Rock, San Marcos, Cedar Park and San Antonio.
He also led master planning efforts for several Central Texas cities and has provided professional traffic engineering and transportation planning services to many signature Austin development projects, including Mueller, Domain, Hill Country Galleria and Crestview Station TOD. His unique leadership and public engagement capabilities have also helped to build community support for many controversial projects.
He also finds time to pay it forward in the community. He was recognized by UT Austin’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement with a Community Leadership Award for his years of contributions to the Asian American Community. He is also a STEM outreach advocate and works with the Center for Excellence in Education.
Islam was recognized by the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement Department of The University of Texas at Austin with the Community Leadership Award in 2016 for his contributions to the Asian American Community. He has received a Community Leadership Award from BAGA and a Volunteer of the Year Award from GACC.
David H. Nicastro
M.S., Civil Engineering 1985
CEO, Building Diagnostics, Inc.
David Nicastro is the founder and CEO of Building Diagnostics, Inc., a building-failure analysis firm with branches in four cities. He contributes to standards development with insight gained by analyzing building failures. His work has set the standard for other companies both nationally and internationally, and he is a leader in advancing the field of forensics engineering related to building systems and closures.
David Nicastro, alumnus of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Nicastro and his firm, Building Diagnostics, Inc., are the premier consultants for building envelope problems and solutions. He continues to excel and lead the industry by conducting ongoing research and testing of numerous products at the request of multiple national clients.
At a young age, he had an inclination for architecture and railroads. He came to UT to study architectural engineering with the goal of becoming a forensic engineer. Nicastro not only investigates failures but also designs remedies for most of the problems his team investigates, and they try very hard to prevent failures of critical structures.
He strongly believes in sharing knowledge and educating clients and engineering colleagues. He regularly speaks and frequently publishes articles. In fact, he has published over 50 articles and written, edited or contributed to 4 books on the durability and failure of building materials. He is also the past chairman of ASTM Committee C24 on Building Seals and Sealants.
Nicastro gives back to UT by regularly making presentations, hiring our graduates, and even creating The Durability Lab, a testing center housed at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus.
Andrew W. Taylor
Ph.D. 1990
Associate, KPFF Consulting Engineers
Andy W. Taylor is an Associate at KPFF Consulting Engineers in Seattle with nearly 30 years of leadership in structural engineering research and design. A seismic design and building performance expert, he is known for tackling complex problems, from rehabilitating drydocks for nuclear submarines to working on major wind turbine installations.
Andrew Taylor, alumnus of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Growing up in Seattle, Taylor’s fascination with structures from the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, like the Coliseum, Monorail and Space Needle, led him to pursue structural engineering. He completed his Ph.D. at UT Austin, working with Dr. John Breen. Following this, he joined the Earthquake Engineering Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, conducting applied research on seismic design for bridges and performance-based seismic design. He has participated in earthquake reconnaissance teams for the 1994 Northridge, 1995 Kobe, 2001 Nisqually and 2011 Tohoku earthquakes.
Taylor has served on numerous technical committees, contributing to advancements in structural design methods and building codes. His research on concrete box piers has been integrated into the AASHTO bridge design code, and his work on earthquake damage modeling of concrete structures has received national recognition from ACI and NIST, earning him immense respect from colleagues.
John A. Wooley
B.S., Civil Engineering 1972, M.S., Civil Engineering 1974
Founder and Principal Engineer, Balcones Geotechnical
John A. Wooley is an outstanding geotechnical engineer, manager and business developer with over 40 years of technical experience encompassing significant capital investment projects worldwide, both onshore and offshore. Before starting his own successful firm, he rose through the ranks of Fugro Consultants, Inc., eventually serving as executive vice president and was responsible for the firm’s transportation and infrastructure practice. Wooley attributes much of his success to his teachers at UT, like Roy Olson, and fellow alumni with whom he has worked for many years.
John Wooley, alumnus of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
After receiving his master’s degree from UT, Wooley served in the Air Force as a research officer at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for several years, modeling group motion response to explosive blast loadings. Upon exiting the USAF, he began working for McClelland Engineers in Houston in 1976, where his assignments included directing offshore vessel, crew and drilling operations in the U.S., Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.
Wooley has extensive expertise in the behavior of foundations in rock, expansive clay soils and Gulf Coast soils. He has completed major site investigations in the major geologic units spanning Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and beyond. His project scope is vast, ranging from health care facilities to major high-rise buildings, pipelines, tunnels, water and wastewater facilities and industrial plant additions. In 2013, Wooley started his own company, Balcones Geotechnical, which is focused on solving complex geotechnical puzzles in Texas.
Throughout his career, Wooley has been active in professional organizations that advance engineering practice. He has dedicated himself to teaching and guiding early career engineers, finding mentorship one of the most fulfilling and fun parts of his job. Additionally, he has served in advisory roles for the City of Austin, the St. Teresa’s School Board and the CAEE Department.