Neel-Schaffer’s own Dyan C. Damron, P.E., PTP, was recently awarded the Joseph M. Thomas Outstanding Young Member Award by the Southern District of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) at their Annual Meeting in Portsmouth, Virginia on April 13, 2010. 

The Joseph M. Thomas Outstanding Young Member Award was created to recognize individuals, who over their young professional careers, have contributed significantly to the transportation engineering profession and the professional organization of ITE.

Damron graduated from Tennessee Tech University in 2002, with a Bachelor of Engineering.  Since then, she has been instrumental in organizing and chartering a new student Chapter for ITE, serving as the first President of the newly formed Tennessee Tech Student Chapter.

As a Member of ITE since graduating, Damron currently serves as the Chair for the Southern District ITE Education & Student Chapter Committee.  In addition to her work with ITE, she is also a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies) of Tennessee, and the American Planning Association (APA). 

In 2005, Damron was awarded the Tennessee Section of ITE, Jack B. Humphreys Award for Service as a Young Member and was nominated by NSPE as one of the ten New Faces in Engineering.  In 2008, she was awarded the Young Engineer of the Year by both the Nashville Chapter and State Association of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers. In 2009, Damron was selected as one of ten international recipients of the ITE Consultants Council Young Professionals Scholarship to travel to San Antonio, TX and attend the 2009 International ITE meeting.

Continuing with her work to further student education, Damron regularly makes presentations to elementary, middle, and high schools on the importance of engineering as a profession.  She also serves as a volunteer for Nashville’s Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School’s pre-engineering program and participates in Career Day at Battle Ground Academy, her alma mater.

Currently a Project Manager at Neel-Schaffer Inc., she is a licensed professional engineer in Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Kentucky.  She was the first in the state of Tennessee to be certified as a Professional Transportation Planner. 

“Damron is a great asset to not only Neel-Schaffer but to the organizations she belongs.” said Craig Hanchey, Senior Vice President “She does a lot to not only further the education of the future generation but also the profession.”