DAVE JACKSON, PE

Young Engineer of the Year Award

OVERVIEW

The Young Engineer-of-the-Year Award is intended to identify and recognize an outstanding engineer no older than 35 as of January 1 in the year following the award year. The evaluation criteria include collegiate achievements, professional and technical society activities, engineering experience, publications/patents, major engineering project achievements, and additional activities such as civic, fraternal, or humanitarian endeavors. This year’s recipient is David Jackson, PE.

David Jackson, a Pennsylvania native, graduated from Geneva College with a B.S. degree in Engineering in 2009. During college, David worked as an Engineering Intern in his hometown of Hollidaysburg, PA, where he assisted in construction inspection for two years with PennDOT District 9-0. Desiring a taste for the consulting side of the industry, David accepted an internship position in the highway design department at Michael Baker International in Moon Township, PA for his final summer internship opportunity before his senior year.

Since that internship in 2008, David has remained at Michael Baker and expanded his transportation engineering knowledge through delivery of diverse projects for local and regional clients, as well as experience as a discipline lead partnering with contractors on complex Design-Build projects in states such as Texas, Indiana, and Kentucky. Thanks to that exposure and partnership with other Michael Baker offices, David is regarded for his high standards of integrity and quality, proactive coordination, and professionally cordial demeanor across multiple regions within the company. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and is an active member of ASHE and WTS Pittsburgh Chapters.

Most recently David has served as the lead highway engineer on the SR 28, Section A56 Highland Park Interchange Improvement Project for PennDOT D-11, and the I-2 and I-69 Interchange Reconstruction in Hidalgo County, Texas. Although David still regularly provides technical engineering design services on many projects, he has accepted management roles of both staff and projects, overseeing four staff members in the highway group, and serving as the Project Manager on Construction Phase Services for the ongoing SR 28 Highland Park Interchange project and the upcoming SR 376 Squirrel Hill Interchange Improvement Project. David also is an active participant in the PennDOT – ACEC/PA Digital Delivery Workspace Group that has been collaborating on the logistics of accomplishing PennDOT’s goal for digital project delivery by 2025.

He previously served as Treasurer for the School Board of Robinson Township Christian School, Vice-President and Treasurer of the ASCE Student Chapter at Geneva College, Vice Chair for Administration for the Young Professionals in Transportation (YPT) Pittsburgh Chapter, and Captain of the Geneva College team in the AISC Steel Bridge Competition. He is currently an ordained Deacon in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and the Secretary of the Kōəles Cycling Club, a non-profit cycling advocacy group in the Pittsburgh region. In his free time, he enjoys adventuring outdoors and participates in mountain bike, endurance gravel, and cyclocross racing across the region. David married his high school sweetheart, Abby, in 2008, and they currently reside in Moon Township with their three children (Lucy, Felicity, and Jude), and golden retriever, Dolly.