San Diego, CA - Leanne Abe, PE, has been recognized for her outstanding achievement as the 2008 Outstanding Younger Civil Engineer by the San Diego section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
“The Outstanding Younger Civil Engineer Award highlights excellence in the profession and contributions to the advancement of civil engineering,” notes Tim Murphy, PE, president of the ASCE San Diego section. “Ms. Abe’s leadership brings enormous benefit to the organization and to the community. Her energy and willingness to serve is a model for current and future engineers.”
Abe is a senior engineer with the PBS&J San Diego water/wastewater planning group. Her work includes analyzing potable and recycled water distribution systems, studying pipeline design and water and sewer hydraulics, and assessing water supplies. She has managed projects for potable water treatment system design and sampling programs, as well as water main replacement.
Abe serves as president of the ASCE San Diego Section Younger Member Forum for early career engineers. Committed to encouraging students to enter engineering as a career, she participates in Project Lead the Way, a program that teams engineers with local schools as part of an engineering curriculum for students. This program exposes students to many engineering disciplines and allows them to see the difference engineers can make in the world.
She also assists at Engineering Day at the Mall at local malls to increase awareness of civil engineering among students and their families. “A chance conversation between my mother and an airline passenger brought my attention to engineering as career choice in college,” explains Abe. “Now I enjoy introducing the next generation of students to the many facets of engineering open to them.”
Abe is a founding board member of the San Diego professional chapter of Engineers without Borders (ewbsandiego.wordpress.com), a nonprofit group that partners with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life through environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects.
A graduate of Camarillo High School, Abe earned her B.S. degree in environmental engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 2000.