Each year, a panel of distinguished PDCA members is given the task to select one engineer who has made a significant contribution to the association, the driven pile industry and the engineering profession at large and bestow upon that person the Professional Engineer's Service Award. The recipient can represent the geotechnical, civil or structural engineering disciplines, and must have displayed exemplary leadership, technical innovation and practices that strengthen the engineering field of driven pile as it relates to deep foundations and earth retention systems throughout their career.
This year, the panel selected Scott Webster with GRL Engineers, Inc. to receive the Professional Engineer's Service Award. Webster is a geotechnical engineer who has worked with GRL Engineers, Inc. for nearly three decades he has managed the company's North Carolina office since the early '90s in addition to running GRL's offshore operations and is also the recently appointed treasurer on the PDCA Board of Directors.
"In his 27-plus years with GRL, Scott has been intimately involved with the driven pile industry," said Scott Callaway, president of PDCA. "He recently volunteered his time as a member of the PDCA Board of Directors and is now serving as treasurer on the Executive Committee."
"It was this unwavering commitment to PDCA along with his numerous professional contributions to the driven pile industry that we selected Scott to be this year's recipient of the Professional Engineer's Service Award," added Jason Moore, PDCA's vice president.
Despite Webster's tenure in the industry and active participation on the board, he wasn't expecting his name to be called for an award during PDCA's 22nd Annual International Conference and Expo.
"[I was] very surprised," he said. "I just didn't expect it. I'm honored and pleased."
GRL Engineers has long been a staunch supporter of PDCA, and Webster says that he is happy to be able to continue that legacy. He adds that he's been enjoying his involvement on the board.
"[Being a part of the board is] something I very much enjoy and it's something I look forward to," he said. "It's nice to meet all the people involved in our industry and make new friends."
What Webster enjoys most about working in the driven pile industry is being able to flex his problem-solving capabilities.
"I enjoy the variety of projects and variation of conditions and problems to tackle," he said. "The size of a project doesn't matter to [GRL] little jobs or big jobs they all have their own issues that need to be resolved."
It's that opportunity to overcome project challenges with creative solutions that Webster pinpoints as a critical reason that engineers need to be involved with PDCA.
"The biggest advantage of being active in PDCA is to find out what people are doing and what issues they're facing," he said. "You can find out information that will help you in the long run. You may not run across the problem someone is having [in the immediate future], but if you ever do, that information is there, it's available and it's helpful to you."