Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame to Hold 2002 Ceremony

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame will induct six individuals and honor two projects and one corporation/institution during a ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2002 at The Club in Birmingham.

The State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame was founded by proclamation of the governor in 1987 to honor, preserve and perpetuate the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of individuals, projects, corporations and institutions that have brought and continue to bring significant recognition to the state.

Joining the 79 individuals already inducted into the Hall of Fame will be:

Joe W. Forehand, the chairman and CEO of Accenture, who has dedicated his 30-year career to make Accenture the world’s leading provider of management and technology consulting services and solutions.

A native of Alexander City and a graduate of Auburn University, Forehand is Consulting Magazine’s Most Influential Consultant and was named by Information Week as one of the 15 most inspirational figures in information technology. He currently serves on the Business Steering Committee of the Global Business Dialogue on E-Commerce.

Tom D. Kilgore, president of Progress Ventures, a part of a Fortune 250 company – Progress Energy. A leader in the energy industry, Kilgore pursues the answers to energy challenges by bringing to fruition his vision for ground-to-grid operations.

A University of Alabama alumnus, Kilgore has been named a Distinguished Engineering Fellow by the UA College of Engineering, the College’s highest honor, and a Distinguished Mechanical Engineering Fellow. He is responsible for establishing the Progress Energy Mechanical Engineering Corporate Scholars Program at UA, which provides financial aid to future engineers.

A native of Sand Mountain, Kilgore has served on the Harvard Electricity Policy Group and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, among other groups.

T. Keith King, president, CEO and board chairman of Volkert & Associates, a firm ranked in the top one percent of engineering design firms in America. As principal of the I-10 Twin Bridges over Mobile Bay, the Cochrane/Africatown U.S.A. Bridge over the Mobile River, and the state coal-export facility in Mobile, King’s projects have been recognized three times by the Hall of Fame.

A native of Frisco City and graduate of Auburn University, King received that university’s Distinguished Service Award and was honored as the Auburn College of Engineering’s Outstanding Alumnus. He currently serves on the Board of Advisors and Board of Directors of Mobile’s Chamber of Commerce.

William H. Lawler, who directed and designed the development of the B-2 “Stealth Bomber” from initial flight to delivery to the U.S. Air Force as an operational weapon system. Today, Lawler serves as vice president and general manager of strategic operations and planning for The Boeing Co. in Missouri.

A native of Russellville and a graduate of The University of Alabama, Lawler has authored numerous technical papers on structural dynamics, and has appeared in television documentaries on the B-2 Bomber, including History Channel specials.

Lawler currently serves as a member of the UA Aerospace Engineering Department Advisory Board.

Ed L. Reynolds, president of network operations for Cingular Wireless, who began his career as an Auburn University co-op student at South Central Bell. In 1989, Reynolds began the task of bringing cellular services to rural areas in five states, including Alabama. For a time, he served concurrently as president of BellSouth Mobility, BellSouth Mobility DCS and American Cellular Communications Corporation.

Reynolds, who received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and an M.B.A from The University of Alabama, currently serves on Auburn’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Industrial Advisory Board and as director of the Atlanta College of Art. He is a native of Montgomery.

Jim S. Voss, a retired U.S. Army colonel, who has logged 202 days in space as a NASA astronaut. Voss recently carried out a five-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station, in summer 2001.

Voss served more than 15 years in the Army and is a Distinguished Graduate of his Infantry Officer Basic Course. He is the recipient of the NASA Outstanding Leadership Award and Distinguished Service Medal.

A native of Opelika, Voss is a graduate of Auburn University and was recently awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Colorado.

Also to be honored at the induction are two projects: American Cast Iron Pipe Company’s 65-megawatt Contiarc furnace and the Mercedes-Benz M-Class plant.

ACIPCO’s 65-megawatt Contiarc furnace is the only one of its kind in the world for melting iron. The electric furnace is designed to save energy, reduce pollution and accommodate raw materials other than increasingly scarce coke and clean scrap, which are used in standard production of ductile iron pipe. The Contiarc’s electricity is supplied by its own substation located across the street from the ACIPCO plant in Birmingham. Its power supply is the largest of its kind in the world.

The Contiarc furnace was constructed as a test facility in Birmingham in 1997 by ACIPCO foundry experts with assistance by Alabama Power Company engineers and the German design/engineering firm SMS Demag.

Located near Tuscaloosa, the Mercedes-Benz M-Class manufacturing plant’s million square feet houses the plant’s body, paint and assembly “shops,” along with its administrative facilities, under one roof. The open layout was designed to foster a team approach and make the 1,900 employees feel at home, as more than 300 vehicles are produced daily. Since its completion in summer 1996, the plant’s M-Class vehicle has won more than 40 automotive awards. It is now sold in 135 countries.

A recent contribution of $1.5 million was given by Mercedes-Benz to The University of Alabama and Stillman College to create co-op opportunities and scholarships for students. A $600 million plant expansion, expected to be complete in late 2003, will create 2,000 new jobs in Alabama.

In the corporation/institution category, Jones, Blair, Waldrup and Tucker Inc. will be honored.

Jones, Blair, Waldrup and Tucker Inc., a consulting engineering corporation in Gadsden since 1944, serves as city engineer of 14 Northeast Alabama municipalities across seven counties. JBWT provides services in traditional civil engineering matters such as street and highway design, but the preservation of clean water supplies have become its specialty.

In Calhoun, Etowah and Marshall counties, JBWT is responsible for expanding public water service to more than 60,000 citizens. The firm engineered Calhoun County’s direct filtration plant, which enabled the county to begin treating raw water from two existing, but previously untapped, sources. JBWT also increased Gadsden’s pumping capacity threefold.

Note to Editors and Reporters: For more information about the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, visit http://aehof.eng.ua.edu/.