Our Stories

Engineers Week is here! This week, and all year round, we recognize engineers for their valuable contributions. With innovation, expertise, and commitment, engineering teams tackle a variety of issues, advance technology, and help shape a better future for society.

Thank you to our American Water engineers for your continued commitment to help Keep Life Flowing for our customers and communities!

Learn about several American Water engineers below:

Q - Can you briefly outline your career path and describe your current role at American Water?
A - I spent the first 10 years of my career at a consulting engineering firm primarily serving municipalities.  The firm was ultimately purchased by a large multi-national water/wastewater contract operations company to help them grow and optimize their business through in-house engineering expertise.  While I worked primarily on municipal projects until that point, providing engineering support to our O&M team and working on a lot of exciting deals really opened my eyes to opportunities in the private sector. 

That experience led me to American Water in 2005 where I was hired as part of the engineering team. Within a couple of years, I moved to the Contract Services Group (CSG) within our market-based business. Within CSG, I worked as the VP of Operations, then the VP of Optimization & Commercialization, and eventually the President for four years before we decided to divest most of the business in 2016.  At that point, I moved back to the [American Water] engineering team and became the Vice President of Corporate Engineering in 2018. In 2024, we shifted to our current center-led model in engineering, and I was named the Chief Engineering Officer. 

Q - How do the engineering teams contribute to the success of American Water?
A - I am so proud and constantly amazed by our engineering teams at American Water, which are made up of nearly 400 engineers, scientists, and other professionals across the business. There are several different sub-teams and roles within engineering that all contribute to the success of American Water.  For example, the engineering planning teams are primarily responsible for identifying key assets and operational risks and developing mitigating solutions, while also identifying opportunities to expand and improve our utility systems through capital projects and programs. This engineering planning work is the primary scope and prioritization input into developing our capital plan.

Within our corporate engineering group, our technical services and construction teams help refine the scope and concept design for recommended projects, provide specialty engineering and construction expertise to our state teams, and efficiently deliver design work for a variety of small to medium projects.
The state engineering project delivery teams are responsible for executing capital projects in coordination with our consulting engineering and contractor partners. Over the next five years, more than $17 billion of capital projects and programs will be delivered and/or supported by the engineering teams, which will significantly mitigate risks, improve our operations, and grow our business. 

Q - What makes American Water an ideal employer for engineers?  
A - As the largest regulated water and wastewater utility in the United States, there are so many great opportunities for engineers and engineering professionals within American Water. Our engineering teams have the opportunity to work closely with our operations professionals and researchers to learn many aspects of the utility business. Our engineers work on complex, innovative projects and often advance into leadership roles within the company.

Q - Can you briefly outline your career path and describe your current role at American Water?
A - My passion for protecting the environment has shaped my career from the very beginning and led me to American Water. I started my career journey as an engineering intern at a chemical plant in Philadelphia, where I gained hands-on experience in air quality monitoring and process improvements. After graduation, I joined the City of Philadelphia Water Department’s Planning and Research team, performing treatment studies to enhance corrosion control strategies and deepening my understanding of the mission of safe drinking water utilities. 

As a young engineer, I became familiar with American Water through the AWWA Journal, which I regularly read to stay current on advancements in water treatment. Many of the articles that influenced me were authored by American Water’s research team. When a close colleague later joined the company and spoke highly of its technical excellence, culture, and mission, it reinforced my interest and ultimately led me to pursue a career at American Water.

I have held a range of roles at American Water, progressing from early career engineering positions to Vice President of Engineering in our New Jersey operations, then to my current role as Senior Director, Engineering Planning at our Camden, N.J., headquarters. In this role, I lead a team of highly skilled engineers responsible for our water and wastewater systems planning across the country.

Q - Please share a few project highlights that you are particularly proud of and why.
A - My team and I tackle some of the most meaningful challenges facing communities today. From modernizing aging infrastructure and deploying new technologies, to preparing our systems for increasingly extreme climate conditions. Our work brings together experts in system resiliency, pipeline condition assessment and hydraulic modeling, water quality and treatment, and wastewater collection and treatment. Every day, we strive to design sustainable solutions that reduce our energy footprint while building stronger, more resilient water and wastewater systems for future generations. I am especially proud of our work with the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative, a multi-industry taskforce advancing the replacement of lead service lines across communities nationwide. This work will have a lasting impact that truly improves people’s lives.

Q - Do you have any advice for students wishing to become engineers one day?
A - Engineering is one of the most important and fulfilling careers you can choose. The challenges ahead will take courage, perseverance, and commitment, but it will also give you the opportunity to make a real difference. We need your creativity and passion to help shape strong, resilient, and sustainable communities.