Staff Spotlight: John Stein, P.E.

John, his wife Paula, and her first blue marlin in Mazatlan

At the coin toss for last year's Western Southern Open men's final

At the Western Southern Open

John's new house

Paula and John

Our staff spotlight this month shines on John Stein, P.E., our Mississippi Manager of Engineering Operations and Senior Project Manager. John joined the DE team in 2009 when he relocated from Southern California and has since managed planning, design, and construction of water and wastewater facilities along coastal Mississippi and the North Shore.  

Hi John! Tell us a little bit about where you’re from, where you reside now, and what you love about your current hometown.
I was born and raised in Southern California. At age 45 (2009), I married my wife and moved from San Diego, California to Mandeville. It's definitely not the weather!

A birdie told us you bought a new home recently. What’s your favorite part about the new place?
The location. It's 6 blocks from the lakefront in Old Mandeville, 2 blocks from the Trailhead, across the street from the Trace, and we can walk to numerous bars and restaurants.

If you could travel anywhere where would you go and why?
Either the South Pacific or Azores to go fishing and catch big blue marlin.

Do you have any big summer plans outside the office?
We will be going to Cincinnati in August for our annual trip to the Western Southern Open (ATP & WTA Master 1000 professional tennis tournament). While there we will visit my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. In October we're planning to go to East Cape near Cabo to fish in a tournament, but now that depends on how fast my house sells!

What would be impossible for you to give up?!
Wine!

Tell us something people may not know about you.
I am first generation American. My parents immigrated to the United States in 1957 as war refugees from Germany and Austria. I met my wife in 2005 in Panama on a fishing trip. The largest marlin I have caught weighed 746 pounds and the largest tuna I have caught weighed 279 lbs. I grew up on a chicken ranch in Redlands, California where we had 210,000 layers (egg producers).

Thank you so much for your time!

Meet our Summer Intern: Adeleigh Smith

Adeleigh Smith

Hey, Adeleigh! Where are you from and where do you go to school?
I am from New Orleans and went to St. Mary’s Dominican High School. I am currently enrolled at LSU.

What made you want to intern with DE this summer?
I wanted actual engineering experience and to see if I enjoyed the career path. I do very much enjoy it and am learning a ton!

Have you learned anything cool or interesting through your internship so far?
I’m learning that a lot of time goes into things that the general population may not think about. I am working on a scoping report for signs and striping in Tangipahoa right now, which Stephanie Stanford assigned me. I’ve learned lots of things about signs and how many laws go toward them. I also learned about the different details for certain curves, road widths, and certain speed limits.

Victoria Malley took me out in the field to see levees being compacted and the soil being tested. I had no idea settling plates were put inside levees; that was cool to know. I also learned about armoring the levees which was interesting and something I did not know before.

Patrick Stiegman let me check a surveyor’s sheet for waterlines in Hollygrove. I had zero clue what a unit sheet was and thought that was so cool. I was genuinely excited about it and even looked up where my house was and other family members’ homes. Right now I am also working on the Peltier Park Sidewalk preliminary stages. I am extremely thankful to be learning so much in just three weeks. My dad (DE Senior Project Manager, Tim Smith) has also taught me little things here and there. He has helped me a lot and I am thankful he is here to teach me.

Do you have any big summer plans aside from interning?
I am making my debut in New Orleans which I am so excited about.

Tell us something about yourself.
I am in a sorority at LSU, Delta Delta Delta, and we do a lot of work for St. Jude philanthropy. I enjoy helping out such a great cause.

Thank you so much for your time! Good luck with the rest of your internship!

Staff Spotlight: Burgundy Hebert

Burgundy Hebert
Senior Office Manager

Our staff spotlight this month shines on Burgundy Hebert, DE's Senior Office Manager who joined our team in 2001. Burg is instrumental in our team's success and is always eager to step in and help out her teammates. Learn more about Burg, her family, and her fur babies below!

Hi Burg! Tell us a little bit about where you’re from, where you reside now, and what you love about your hometown. I am originally from the area they call the WEST BANK in Jefferson Parish. I currently still reside on the West Bank but in St. Charles Parish in a little town called Luling. I am glad to call Luling home because living in a small town where everyone knows everyone, a trip to Walmart is actually fun. It can take hours for a five minute shopping trip because you see everyone you know.

What’s your favorite place to eat at in the local area? Hebert Seafood of course!!! HAHA. We enjoy eating at Avocado’s Mexican Grill for the 2-for-1 margaritas and Taco Tuesday deal. You can’t beat spending $15.00 on a meal (including tip) for two!

We know you and your husband own a seafood business (shout out to Hebert Seafood in Luling) and work hard year ‘round, but what do you two enjoy in your free time? Free time, what is that?!  All jokes aside, when we have a couple hours to ourselves we love spending time with our 4 dogs taking them for a walk, lounging on the sofa (with the dogs of course) catching up on Netflix, or if we can get away we love to go to the race track since my husband Willie races motor bikes.

Do you have any big summer plans outside the office?  For our annual vacation this year we are keeping it low key and going to the Caribe in Orange Beach to celebrate my son Zack turning the big “21."

What would be impossible for you to give up?!  Chocolate!

Tell us something people may not know about you. I studied to be a Medical Assistant before coming to work for Digital and I would love to have a farm to house stray dogs when I retire.

Thank you so much for your time!

We do more than design roadways. We plan them, too.

Roadway widening, a dedicated bike lane, and traffic signal modifications are a few scope elements to David Drive Corridor Improvements, a project DE is designing for Jefferson Parish based on the recommendations that we provided to the RPC under a Stage 0 Feasibility Access Management Study for this corridor. From transportation planning and traffic engineering to design, DE has managed all phases for this corridor improvement that reaches from Veterans Boulevard to West Napoleon Avenue.