PSPE Awards Program

PSPE Awards Program

2025 Award Recipients

Engineer of the Year

Nicole C. Wilson, P.E.

Nicole C. Wilson, P.E., is a Senior Project Manager at EARTHRES, a Division of RESPEC, based out of Pipersville, PA. Nicole has been with the company for over 20 years and was an environmental specialist at PSC prior to working at EARTHRES.

Nicole has over 25 years of professional experience in environmental consulting, specializing in air quality, compliance, and reporting. Her diverse client base includes landfills, quarries, utilities, industrial, commercial, institutional, and medical/healthcare facilities. Nicole has managed air permitting for numerous landfill expansions, renewable energy projects, flares and other control devices, combustion sources, and composting and other “green” projects.

Nicole is an active member of the Air and Waste Management Association (A&WMA), the Healthcare Facility Managers Association of the Delaware Valley (HFMADV), the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), and of course PSPE. She has previously served as Chapter President for PSPE and has held roles such as Treasurer and Regional Vice President. Currently, she is on the planning committee for NSPECON 2025 and was a mentor for the NSPE Class of 2025 Emerging Leaders Program (ELP). She holds a Professional Engineer license in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina.

Nicole is thrilled to have won this year’s Engineer of the Year award and commends all of the nominated candidates. She would like to thank her Chapter (Bucks County), especially for their nomination and continued support.”

Young Engineer of the Year

Joshua Howard, PE

Joshua “Josh” Howard, PE, is a project engineer at Benesch with extensive experience on projects for PennDOT, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC), and local municipalities. Since joining Benesch over seven years ago, Josh has advanced steadily and recently completed the firm’s Project Manager Essentials program, preparing him for future leadership. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Villanova University.

Josh is known as an H&H analysis expert across all five Pennsylvania offices. He has worked on more than a dozen municipal bridge replacements and rehabilitations throughout Schuylkill and Luzerne Counties, helping local governments maintain and improve critical infrastructure. He’s also contributed to major infrastructure projects like the $310 million Market/Chestnut St. bridge rehabilitation near Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station and the nationally publicized I-95 bridge collapse in 2023. Josh was part of Benesch’s rapid-response team that developed MPT plans and detour routes, helping to reopen the highway just 12 days after the incident.

Beyond his professional achievements, Josh’s character shines through his selfless actions. Last September, he donated stem cells to a leukemia patient in France and continues to promote the donor registry. For the past seven years, he has served as coordinator of the PSPE Anthracite Chapter MATHCOUNTS Competition, bringing together 6th to 8th graders from across Schuylkill County each February to challenge and inspire young minds through mathematics. He also judges the local K’Nex STEM Design Challenge and volunteers with the Curvey Coalition through the Schuylkill United Way and Benesch’s Adopt-a-Highway program.

Whether he’s securing DCNR grants for local municipal recreation facilities or inspiring future engineers, Josh shows that engineering excellence and community service truly go hand in hand.

Outstanding Program Award

Bucks County Chapter

The Bucks Chapter has been selected to receive the Outstanding Program award. The Bucks Chapter has done an outstanding job of engaging members and drawing guests through dinner events and tours, meeting PSPE-PIE approval for PA and neighboring states, such as New York and New Jersey.

Special Project Award

Philadelphia Chapter

The Philadelphia Chapter has been selected to receive the Special Projects award for its accomplishments within the PSPE Boot Camp. The PSPE Boot Camp is a continuing education program that was made to assist engineers in receiving their PDHs. This low-cost three-day program helped not just PSPE members, but also engineers from Delaware, New Jersey, and other neighboring states. We thank the Philadelphia Chapter for providing a space for the education of engineers and show our appreciation with this award.

Our award recipients will receive their honors at the PSPE Annual Conference’s Awards Luncheon on September 19th, 2025, in Allentown, PA. Click here to learn more about the conference.

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PSPE Awards

These official PSPE awards recognize exceptional engineers. These individuals, through their efforts, are the epitome of the Professional Engineer.

Winners at the state level may be nominated for the national NSPE Awards.

Chapter Awards

Chapter Awards recognize the outstanding outreach initiatives of PSPE Chapters for giving back to their communities and the various engineering disciplines. Chapter Awards are given annually to a Chapter for:

• Communication (via the website, newsletter, etc.) that keeps members informed of events, meetings, and news;
• Membership has substantially grown and maintained in the year;
• Outstanding Program of topics/meetings throughout the year that is exceptional and educational;
• Special Project(s) undertaken by the Chapter that is impactful and advances the mission of PSPE.

Chapter Award Categories

Communications Award

This Chapter Award is presented to the Chapter whose communication with its membership improved significantly, and whose attendance at Chapter functions increased measurably during the past year. Examples of enhanced communication may include developing a Chapter newsletter (mailed or digital) or a Chapter telephone committee that contacts each member with news and upcoming events and promotes Chapter activities. A Chapter should include examples of improved communications and documentation that the measures taken significantly increased awareness of programs, improved meeting attendance, and enhanced Chapter communications.

Membership Growth Award

The Chapter Membership Growth Award is presented to the Chapter having the largest percent increase in membership for a given year. The measure of growth will be based upon the percentage of increase in membership for one year, from May 31 of the previous year to June 1 of the current year.

Outstanding Program Award

This award is presented to the Chapter whose overall programs during the year are judged to be the most informative and which achieve in content the professional and timely objectives of the Society. Attention is given to special programs that promote significant membership participation and attain a high degree of publicity for the Society.

Special Projects Award

The Chapter Special Projects Award is presented to the chapter that has given special attention to a specific project of accomplishment in the interest of promoting the engineering profession, for example, a unique forum on educating the public on pollution, a special high-level Engineers Week program, or special professional seminars or panel discussions. Any chapter can submit a resume of the special project undertaken to be considered for this award.

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Questions | Contact the PSPE office by phone at (717) 441.6051 or contactpspe@pspe.org