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The Texas Society of Professional Engineers, Sabine Chapter, has named Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Chair and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Dr. Liv Haselbach “Engineer of the Year.” Haselbach will be honored during the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) banquet, Thurs., Feb. 21 at the Neches Room on Crockett Street. 

Each year the TSPE Sabine Chapter accepts nominations for Engineer of the Year and selects finalists based on experience, published works, involvement in the community and professional organizations. Haselbach was chosen based on “the numerous papers and articles she has published, awards she has received, and because of her active involvement with American Society of Civil Engineers at the local and state levels.”

“I was quite humbled by this honor, as it typically goes to a practicing engineer,” said Haselbach. “My faculty and I have worked hard in the couple of years since I have been here at Â鶹ÊÓƵ to reach out to the current and future engineering community in southeast Texas, both in teaching and with our research endeavors, especially developing applied technologies. It is amazing how much the engineering community is also embracing our students.”

Haselbach, a licensed professional engineer, holds a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cornell, a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Connecticut. Prior to her academic career, Haselbach founded an engineering consulting company in the New York-Connecticut area. Before coming to Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Haselbach taught civil and environmental engineering at Washington State University for eight years and the University of South Carolina for six years.  Haselbach served as an Associate Director of the U.S. Department of Transportation Tier 1 UTC: Center for Environmentally Sustainable Transportation in Cold Climates and was a Fulbright-ALCOA Distinguished Chair in the Environmental Sciences and Engineering. Her teaching and research focus on sustainable construction, low impact development (especially pervious concrete), life cycle assessment, sustainability education and environmental issues. 

“Personally, this latter part of my career is focused on sustainable technologies and education, and increasing the pipeline to engineering, particularly to those typically under-represented in engineering,” said Haselbach. “This award shows how much southeast Texas is also focusing on these important goals for our future.”