Neel-Schaffer, Inc., is pleased to announce that two more of the firm’s engineers in Louisiana have been certified as Professional Traffic Operations Engineers, bringing to eight the number of PTOEs employed in Louisiana by the engineering and planning firm.

“With the largest contingent of PTOEs of any firm in Louisiana, Neel-Schaffer strengthens its position as a consultant of choice with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development,” said Jerry Trumps, the Southwest Area Manager for Neel-Schaffer who oversees the firm’s operations in Louisiana and Houston, Texas.

“That position is evidenced by the award of several traffic-related retainer contracts to Neel-Schaffer over the past few months.”

Neel-Schaffer’s newest PTOEs are Santosh Andem, P.E., PTOE, in the Lafayette office, and Ellen Burke, P.E., PTOE, in the Baton Rouge office. Neel-Schaffer now has 17 certified PTOEs in the firm, which employs about 500 and has offices in nine states.

The other Louisiana-based PTOEs are David Othling, Prasanth Malisetty, Nick Ferlito and Brin Ferlito in Baton Rouge, Vijay Kunada in Lafayette, and Charles Adams in Shreveport.

PTOE certification helps set traffic engineers apart from their peers, indicating a higher level of skill, training, specialization and competency.

And while Neel-Schaffer continues to expand its disciplines in Louisiana to include areas such as environmental, coastal and water/wastewater, Transportation continues to be the firm’s strength in the state. Said Trumps: “With a ‘deep bench’ of PTOEs, this will allow us to continue to pursue other projects, many of which require the use of PTOE qualifications and expertise.”