PASADENA, CA (April 12, 2017) – Parsons is pleased to announce that Dr. Edward Kent has been awarded the Howard L. Searcy 2017 Engineer of the Year Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Palm Beach Branch for his contributions to the society, engineering profession, and ASCE. Dr. Kent was recognized at the Engineers in Government Night annual awards banquet.
“Ed’s selfless and consistent mentorship is a testament to his innovative spirit, his profession, and his character.” said Mike Johnson, Parsons Group President. “We are honored to have Ed as part of the Parsons team.”
Dr. Kent joined ASCE in 1976 and has practiced water resources engineering in Florida for more than 20 years of his 35‑year career. He developed one of the nation’s first private consulting teams specializing in 3‑dimensional flow modeling, also known as computational fluid dynamics (CFD). They used CFD to solve diverse and complex hydraulics problems encompassing contact time in potable water storage tanks, sewer system overflows, and pump hydraulics, and identifying optimal coastal hydrodynamics for raising mussels. This innovation has been applied to many projects, including an award-winning use of CFD to address scour at the Lake Okeechobee Structure 77 outlet to the Caloosahatchee River.
He served as an adjunct professor for the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Maine, where he was a member of the doctoral advisory committee for a future CFD expert. Dr. Kent also served on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant committee to evaluate coastal engineering research projects with commercial applications.
Dr. Kent has been active in his community throughout his career, including more than 20 years as a Rotarian and serving as the Club President in Concord, NH, and Palm Beach Gardens, FL. He was recently named the 2017–2018 President of the Rotary Club of the Northern Palm Beaches. He also serves on the Department Advisory Committee for the Florida Atlantic University Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geomatics Engineering and was recently named incoming Committee Chairman.
Parsons (NYSE: PSN) is a leading disruptive technology provider in the global defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cybersecurity, missile defense, space, connected infrastructure, and smart cities. Please visit Parsons.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn how we’re making an impact.