The External Advisory Board (EAB) of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering has recently welcomed five alumni to its ranks: Rick Garcia, BSCE ‘73, John Huffman, BSCE ’81, Todd Long, BSCE ’89/MSCE ’90, Josh Rowan, BSCE ‘96, and Stacie Sire, BSCE ‘96. All five will be returning to campus for the EAB’s Fall 2013 business meeting, Nov. 1, as well as the Nov. 2 Homecoming Tailgate Party and football match-up against the Pittsburgh Panthers.
The Fall 2013 EAB meeting also coincides with the retirement of five longtime members of the EAB. Transitioning to emeriti status are Scott Emmons, Tom Gambino, Edmund Glover, Lauren Hildebrand , and Frank Wyatt.
Established more than two decades ago, the EAB is a 30-member committee of CEE alumini vested with guiding the CEE Chair and his leadership team in their stewardship of the School.
“We have been fortunate in attracting among the most accomplished and most dedicated from an impressive group of alumni,” said Karen and John Huff School Chair Dr. Reginald DesRoches. “The incoming class of 2013 is no different. We look forward to working closely with them to continue to make the CEE program among the best in the world. ”
Rick Garcia
After graduating from Georgia Tech in 1973, Rick Garcia pursued a career in aviation which lasted more than 30 years. He began with flying B-18’s for cargo, progressed to corporate jets for the Hewlett-Packard Company and eventually found his way to Delta Airlines, where he retired as a pilot in 2005. His service included a four-year stint as a 747 Singapore Airlines Captain and international service on the B-777. Renowned for his aviation expertise, he was also recruited to serve on the incident investigation board when he was a captain.
Garcia is an active volunteer in the Georgia Tech community, currently serving as a Trustee of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. He also serves as a mentor for current Georgia Tech students. A resident of Naples, Florida, he and his wife Kathy Garcia have four children, three grandsons and one granddaughter.
John Huffman
John Huffman comes to the EAB from a long and distinguished career in business. In addition to earning his undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech in civil engineering in 1981, he is a graduate of the prestigious Harvard University School of Business, where he earned an MBA. For the past 10 years Huffman has been an executive with Pepco Energy Services, where he has served as president and chief executive officer since 2006. Pepco Energy Services provides large governmental and institutional customers with energy efficiency and renewable energy services.
Prior to joining Pepco Energy Services, Huffman was president and CEO of ACN Energy, a national retail energy marketer. His diverse energy industry experience includes leading business development efforts for Trigen Energy Corporation, developing wind-generating facilities around the world for Kenetech Windpower, and managing major new natural gas pipeline projects for United Texas Transmission Company. In addition, he helped lead the development of a high-end office park in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A resident of Virginia, Huffman serves on the board of the Capital Area Food Bank.
Todd Long
A native of Hinesville, Georgia, Todd Long earned both an undergraduate and master’s degree in civil engineering from Georgia Tech.
Currently the deputy commissioner for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), Long is a registered professional engineer (PE) and a registered professional traffic operations engineer.
He began his career with the GDOT in 1990, and has experience working at both DOT Headquarters and the District office over the last two decades. He has worked as district one engineer, director of administration, and director of preconstruction and also spent a year at the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. He was appointed by then Governor Perdue to serve as director of planning in 2009. He was reappointed by Governor Deal and confirmed by the General Assembly in January of 2011. Long was selected to serve as GDOT deputy commissioner in April of 2012 and currently serves in that role.
He is an active member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and served as president of the Georgia Section in 2004. Long and his wife Kelli are the proud parents of four children and currently reside in Lilburn, Georgia.
Josh Rowan
Josh Rowan, PE graduated from Georgia Tech in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He is currently a principal engineer for Jacobs Engineering with a focus on program and construction management for major infrastructure projects in the southeastern United States and for the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Mozambique and Tanzania. To date, Rowan has been responsible for the delivery of $2 billion in infrastructure improvements.
Prior to joining Jacobs, Rowan was the southeast water practice leader for Atkins, the eastern regional manager for construction services for PBS&J, and a project manager for Pittman Construction.
Rowan is the vice chairman for the Atlanta Civic League, a reserve sheriff deputy in Cobb County, and a graduate of Leadership Atlanta. His hobbies include golf and training in Jiu Jitsu.
Stacie Sire
Currently the director and chief engineer for 767/777 airframe and multi-model design centers at Boeing, Stacie Sire earned her undergraduate degree in civil engineering at Georgia Tech and two graduate degrees – one in mechanical engineering and the other in business – at the University of Washington.
Sire started her career at Boeing as a design engineer for 777 aft body structures in 1997. She then worked as a stress analyst in payloads stress for various airplane programs and has also worked as a stress analyst on wing structure for 777-300, 777-300ER, Sonic Cruiser and 787. Working with the United Way, Sire participated in the Loaned Executive Program, where she built new leadership skills while contributing to her local community. Those skills came in handy when Sire led the early 787 wing full scale test efforts, which included negotiating statement of work agreements with partners from around the world and the technical requirements for the test.
Sire was a first level manager in BCA Structures Loads & Dynamics organization, managing 787 internal loads, 787/747-8/737RS aero-elastic FEMs and the analysis tools group. She was configuration analysis leader for airplane development for 787 derivatives and mission improvement during some of the earlier development. As a senior manager, she led the 787 systems stress team through 787-8 certification and then led the 787 Airplane Integration office.
Born and raised in Louisiana, Sire currently lives in Snohomish, Washington with her husband. Her hobbies include running, hiking, skiing, snowboarding and kayaking. She also enjoys traveling, reading and yoga.