David LeBreton passes the Professional Transportation Planner Certification Exam

DE’s David LeBreton recently passed the Professional Transportation Planner (PTP) certification exam. David is now one of seven Louisiana Professional Engineers (P.E.) that double as both a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) and a PTP.

According to Principal and Vice President, Frank Liang, P.E., PTOE, who oversees DE’s Transportation Division, “this additional accreditation to our team provides us the opportunity to assist our clients with supplementary transportation planning services. We are proud to have David as our second PTP on staff and one of the few P.E.s in Louisiana with the PTOE and PTP designation.”

The PTP certification represents a significant achievement in the transportation industry and designates David as a professional who has demonstrated a commitment to high standards of professionalism and proficiency in transportation practices. 

As a Senior Project Manager at DE, David began his engineering career at the firm in 2007 after graduating from Louisiana State University the same year with a degree in Civil Engineering. He is a registered P.E. in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. David’s expertise is in traffic studies, traffic operations, roadway and drainage design, and construction phase services. He is the National Policy/Legislative Committee Chair for Deep South ITE.

Staff Spotlight: Neal Belmonte

Neal and his family

One of the many trips his family has gone on recently

Neal started fishing at an early age

Friends since grammar school

This month’s spotlight shines on Construction Administrator, Neal Belmonte, who joined DE in 2009. Read below to find out THE best king cake according to Neal, his Mardi Gras traditions, and love of fishing.

Hi Neal! 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 in Chalmette, Louisiana and lived there until I graduated from high school. Currently, I live in Metairie and really enjoy the neighborhood, which is in close walking distance to groceries, shops, banks, etc. Also, living on the east side of Metairie means I rarely sit in any traffic. In between growing up in Chalmette and currently living in Metairie, I have lived for some time in Mississippi, Ft Lauderdale, Florida, and Yuma, Arizona.

What are some of the things you enjoy doing in your free time?
Spending time with my wife, Greta and our two girls, Caroline and Allison. I have many hobbies that include fishing, hunting, golf, ballgames and tailgating, concerts, and pretty much anything outdoors. My girls are one and three years old, so we are starting to get them into some of the things that I have always enjoyed.

I have the same group of friends from grammar school and also enjoy spending time with them and their families. Planning and going on trips are something that my wife and I have enjoyed and our girls seem to enjoy it as well as I am always asked, “Daddy, where are we going today?”

Did you make any resolutions for this New Year?
No, I have actually never made a New Year’s resolution. 

Do you have any Mardi Gras traditions or musts?
Yes, the tradition was to spend 5am till mid-night on both Saturday and Sunday before Mardi Gras on St. Charles in from of Hotel Intercontinental with all of my friends, Lundi Gras evening in the French Quarter, and fishing on Mardi Gras Day. In the past year my plans have changed as I enjoy bringing my girls to parades. Mardi Gras has gotten a little more tame for my wife and me but it is a lot of fun watching Caroline and Allison have fun at parades and parties.

Favorite King Cake in the area? And flavor?
Manny Randazzo traditional. Easiest question I have ever had to answer.

What would be impossible for you to give up?!
King Cake would be pretty hard! You can about always find one in my kitchen during Mardi Gras season.

Staff Spotlight: Candice Cox

Candice and her two sons at Disney.

Candice and her son, Dakota.

Candice and her son, Liam.

This month’s spotlight shines on Candice Horne Cox, Office Manager of our Waveland, MS office. Candice joined the DE team in 2003 and has since been a wonderful asset to our Mississippi office. Read below to learn more about her family, the first thing she’d do if she won the lottery, and her other title: craftaholic!

Hi Candice! Tell us a little bit about where you’re from, where you reside now, and what you love about your current hometown.
I grew up in a split family. I lived with mom, step dad, brothers and sister in Baton Rouge from kindergarten through high school. My brother and I spent the weekends and summers with my dad, step mom and 3 other siblings in Waveland, MS. After I graduated high school I decided to move to the Mississippi coast with my dad, but once I became a mom I knew this is where I wanted to raise my children. I currently live in Diamondhead, MS with my two boys, Dakota (14) and Liam (8). I just love the small town feel, going to the grocery store and seeing friendly familiar faces, and we don’t have 1/10th of the amount of traffic as Baton Rouge so I really love that. Even though I drive 50 minutes one way on school mornings, I will take the two-lane roads and their beautiful land full of horses, cows, chickens, and amazing sky views over city traffic any day! 

What are some of the things you enjoy doing in your free time?
Free time? What’s that?! I am a single mom of two very active boys so there is no free time. When I am not at the office I am running kids to practices, games, and social events. Both boys play basketball and Dakota does his almost year round. Luckily, they took a break from football this year because I am currently a sophomore at Pearl River Community College. I do most of my classes online so my nights after tucking the boys into bed are spent doing school work. The only fun thing I really get to do myself is my cricut! It’s a personal size vinyl cutting machine so I make a lot of craft projects like shirts, stickers, and décor stuff. 

If you could travel anywhere where would you go and why?
Any pretty beach! Even though I live on the coast I still enjoy the beach and the sun. It just makes me happy to have the sun on my face, smell the salty sea air, and have my toes in the sand. A nice frozen fruity adult beverage is always a nice plus, too.

With the holiday season fast approaching, what do you look forward to most this time of year? And dread?
I love the holiday season, especially cooler weather! I enjoy cooking, mostly baking new things, and spending time with our families during this time of year. I have a split family and so do my children so we spend a lot of time shuffling between them all which I dread, but I enjoy spending time with them all so we make it work.  

What would be impossible for you to give up?!
Chocolate or probably brownies: they are my weakness! Just ask anyone in the office because I bring them to work so I don’t eat the whole batch!

If you won the lottery tomorrow what would be the first thing you do?
The first thing I would do is purchase or build a new building for Small Blessings Preschool. They are a small preschool that two ladies own. Both of my children went there from birth to kindergarten and these two ladies have become two of my very best friends. Childcare is a passion of mine and knowing these two ladies and seeing what they do for the children in our county just warms my heart. It’s so expensive to rent a decent sized building to cover their needs so I have always wanted a brand new spacious center for them.

Tell us something people may not know about you.
I am a craftaholic! I love craft supplies and creating things.  

Thank you so much for your time!

Staff Spotlight: Patrick Stiegman, EI

This month's spotlight shines on Project Engineer, Patrick Stiegman. Patrick joined DE in 2016 and has since been a key figure in several of our state and municipal roadway design projects. Read below to learn more about Patrick outside the office including his love of hiking, discovery of pho, and some claim-to-fame state championships he won! We are so happy to have Patrick part of the DE Team!     

Hi Patrick! Tell us a little bit about where you’re from, where you reside now, and what you love about your current hometown.
I am born and raised in Metairie and still live in Metairie. I love being so close to the city of New Orleans. I love the cultural attitude that you don’t get anywhere else. I always enjoy going to all of the festivals around town. I’m looking forward to Voodoo Fest and other festivals this year.

What are some of the things you enjoy doing in your free time?
I started to get into riding my bike along the lakefront. When I lived in Houston for a year, I lived right next to a multi-use bike path that led right to downtown Houston, so biking became a great pastime. If I’m not biking, I’ll go drinking with my friends somewhere in New Orleans.

If you could travel anywhere where would you go and why?
I love backpacking and it is something I have put in the back-burner recently. I want to travel to South America and backpack in Patagonia and the Andes Mountains while I am still young. Seeing the epic mountain peaks, beautiful glacier lakes and hiking in untamed nature would be a highlight of my life.

Do you have any big plans outside the office in the next few months?
In upcoming March, I will be marrying my beautiful fiancé, Bridget Connick. I don’t think it gets any bigger of plans than that!

What would be impossible for you to give up?!
I can’t give up pizza. It’s just the perfect food. Everyone should eat pizza.

Favorite thing to eat for lunch during the week?
The coworkers at the office introduced me to Pho (Vietnamese Broth). Pho and the Vietnamese poboys make for a great lunch.

Tell us something people may not know about you.
Well, when I was growing up I played a lot of chess in elementary school. My friends and I in elementary school made a pretty awesome team with a great coach and we won a lot of state championships when I grew up. I only went and competed nationally once and I placed 25th overall individually for my age group. I’m proud of that accomplishment but if you asked me to play a chess game today, I’d probably lose because I forgot all of the strategies I used.

Thank you so much for your time!

Kurt Evans named Fellow in the American Council of Engineering Companies

Digital's CEO, Kurt Evans, P.E., has been elected as a Fellow in the American Council of Engineering Companies. He joins the 300-plus Fellows who have been recognized in this way by their colleagues for contributions to the Council and the profession.

Kurt will be recognized along with other elected Fellows at the 2017 Fall Conference Awards Luncheon in Orlando, Florida. Join us in congratulating Kurt on this wonderful accomplishment!

Kurt Evans, P.E., FACEC

DE's Rob Delaune Serves as a Leadership Panelist for ASCE Younger Members

On May 25th, ASCE Younger Members New Orleans Chapter hosted a member event that featured a leadership panel discussion and a question and answer session.

Several topics of discussion included the following: 

• Career goals and challenges
• Leadership and management
• Business Development
• Technical Development
• Becoming a partner in a firm
• Starting an engineering firm
• Leadership in the public sector
• Networking/client relations
• Personal development and professionalism
• Work/Life balance
• Mentoring

The discussion provided insight to the attendees based on the leadership panel’s experiences.  Panelists were able to portray a message to the younger members regarding the next generation of engineering. Each panelist provided key takeaways for the upcoming generation and what emerging leaders should keep in mind as they gain experience (e.g., passing on of institutional knowledge) at the end of the session.

Panelists from left to right: Robert Delaune, P.E., Bob Mora, P.E., Kristi Mirambell, P.E., Chris Dunn, P.E., James Hance, P.E.