2025 ASCE Central Jersey Branch - Annual Awards Dinner

Wednesday, October 29th, 2025 - 5:30PM-9:00PM

Our House Restaurant and Banquet Facility - Farmingdale, NJ

AWARD WINNERS

Educator of the Year: Alfred Brenner III, P.E. - AEA, Rutgers University

Young Civil Engineer of the Year: Stephanie Foertsch, P.E. - PANYNJ

Researcher of the Year: Jon Miller, Ph.D. - Stevens Institute of Technology

Government Engineer of the Year: Andrew Frisvold, P.E. - PANYNJ

Civil Engineer of the Year: Alfred Kotchi, Jr., P.E., PTOE - WSP

Project of the Year: Montgomery Street Bridge over Assunpink Creek - TPD, Mercer County, Sparwick Contracting

Educator of the Year
Presented to an outstanding educator who has contributed substantially to civil engineering through knowledge and guidance. Must be affiliated with an educational institution located in the State of New Jersey. Institution must support a civil engineering (or civil engineering technology) curriculum.

2025 Recipient:

Mr. Brenner is a licensed professional engineer in New Jersey and has over 40 years of relevant experience. His career includes 27 years at the New Jersey Department of Transportation as the: Director of Support Services; Central Regional Maintenance Engineer; & Resident Engineer. His responsibilities included design, engineering, and administration of construction projects to: rehabilitate hundreds of structural steel and concrete bridges; blasting and painting bridges; rehabilitate and reconstruct canal bridges, dams, culverts, movable bridges, sign structures, multi-use building structures; and monitor utility usage for all NJDOT owned buildings. He was also responsible for building maintenance, building renovation, permitting, and emergency snow removal operations.

He has spent the last fifteen years as a Construction Manager (4 years with Advantage Engineering and 9 with JMT). He has provided construction management for inspection projects, and has been a Resident Engineer, throughout the northeast region. Many of his clients include: NJDOT, NJTA, DRJTBC, DRBA, DRPA, PENNDOT, DELDOT, Port Authority NY/NJ, MTA, Septa, Atlantic County, Camden County, Somerset County, Essex County, Ocean County, Camden County MUA, City of Elizabeth, and the National Park Service.

Mr. Brenner retired as the Lead Structural Specialist for the New Jersey State Police, New Jersey Task Force One Urban Search and Rescue after serving for 25 years. He has studied Disaster Engineering with the US Army Corp. of Engineers and has conducted several vulnerability studies of buildings, bridges, and tunnels. Over the past twenty-five years he has responded to major structural collapses: World Trade Center terrorist attack; Tropicana Parking Garage collapse; Hackensack Garage Collapse; Petco building collapse; and several FEMA hurricane deployments in Florida; along with other single, and multiple story building collapses in New Jersey.

Currently Mr. Brenner is serving as an Adjunct Professor teaching Construction Engineering to the Junior Civil Engineering class at Rutgers University. He has been serving in this capacity for the past six years.

Young Civil Engineer of the Year
Presented to a young civil engineer who has significantly contributed to the civil engineering profession.  Must be 35 years of age or younger as of September 1.

2025 Recipient:

Stephanie is a structural engineer at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Over her 9-year career at PANYNJ, her responsibilities have steadily grown with her experience in both structural design and project management for the PATH Rail Transit System, Newark Liberty International Airport, and the World Trade Center Campus. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering from Manhattan University, where her involvement with ASCE began on the concrete canoe team. Grateful for the mentorship she has received, she actively participates in several mentor programs for high school and college students to help develop the next wave of the civil engineering workforce.

Researcher of the Year

Presented to an outstanding researcher who possess a record of recent significant contributions to the field of civil engineering and dissemination of their research through peer reviewed journal publications, conference proceedings, press releases, technical presentations and/or contributions to technical manuals and design codes. Preference will be given to nominees whose research is focused on civil engineering aspects which have directly benefitted the State of New Jersey.

2025 RECIPENT:

Dr. Miller is a Research Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Ocean Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, where his research focuses on Coastal Engineering and the design of Nature based Systems (NbS). Over his 20+ year career, Dr. Miller has taught numerous classes in civil and ocean engineering and has mentored/advised over 40 graduate students, and over 100 undergraduate research students. 

In addition to his academic role, Dr. Miller also serves as the Director of the New Jersey Coastal Protection Technical Assistance Service and the New Jersey Sea Grant Coastal Processes Specialist.  In those roles he works directly with the state and its communities, to provide information that leads to safer and more resilient coastal communities.

A lifelong New Jersey resident, Dr. Miller lives in New Providence where he spends his “free” time serving as a volunteer coach/trainer for the CC basketball program.

Government Engineer of the Year
Presented to an individual who has contributed substantially to the advancement of the civil engineering profession in the government sector. ASCE member grade of Member, Fellow, Honorary or Life.

2025 Recipient:

Andrew Frisvold, P.E., Deputy Chief Engineer at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey embodies the highest standards of professional excellence, leadership, and public service in civil engineering. With more than two decades at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, he has been entrusted with some of the region’s most critical and complex infrastructure programs, delivering over $3 billion in construction projects that safeguard mobility, resiliency, and economic vitality for millions of people.

Throughout his career, Andrew has consistently risen to challenges that define government engineering: managing teams of more than 80 staffers, negotiating nearly $200 million in claims and settlements, and ensuring that projects advance with minimal disruption to vital facilities such as Newark Liberty International Airport, PATH, the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, Staten Island Bridges, and the Marine Terminals. His ability to develop and implement effective mitigation strategies; including presenting directly to the Port Authority’s Executive Director to secure essential funding; speaks to his rare blend of technical mastery, strategic foresight, and persuasive leadership.
Equally important, Andrew has committed himself to cultivating the next generation of engineers. By mentoring and training staff to become leaders and decision-makers, he has built a lasting culture of excellence that strengthens both the profession and the agency he serves. From advancing resiliency projects like PATH flood protection and Newark’s Terminal One redevelopment to co-chairing safety committees that prioritize workforce well-being, his work has left an indelible mark on the region’s infrastructure and on the civil engineering profession.

Andrew Frisvold exemplifies the very best of government service; a leader who not only delivers results on the largest and most complex projects, but also elevates the profession through mentorship, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to the public good.

Civil Engineer of the Year
Presented to an individual who has contributed substantially to the advancement of the civil engineering profession. Must be an ASCE Member in good standing with NJ Section and Central Jersey Branch. ASCE member grade of Member, Fellow, Honorary or Life.

2025 Recipient:

Al Kotchi is a Vice President and Manager of Traffic and ITS in WSP’s Lawrenceville, New Jersey, office.  A long-time interest in road-related things from a very young age has translated into a 38-year career (so far) as a Traffic Engineer.  He is a 1987 graduate of Penn State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering.  He joined the legacy Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1987 and has remained there in the years until and since acquisition by WSP in about 2017. He is a Professional Engineer in New Jersey and Pennsylvania since 1995 and a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer since 2012.  He is a project manager, technical reviewer and design engineer for traffic-related elements, such as signing, pavement markings, traffic signals and traffic control/construction staging, for many multi-disciplinary projects within New Jersey and occasionally outside the state.  He is a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and was previously named as Engineer of the Year by the Mercer County Chapter of the Professional Engineers Society in 2020.  His interest in transportation outside the nuts and bolts of the job remains through participation in the on-line roads forum AARoads and occasional field road meets with other members. He resides in Fairless Hills, PA, with his wife of 36 years, Kathi, daughter Abby, and a wacky 6-year old English Toy Spaniel named Ollie.

Project of the Year
Presented for a private or public sector project (or research project that contributes to civil engineering technology), that demonstrates sound engineering design and/or construction management and positively impacts the community, area, or region. Must be a project within the Central Jersey Branch Geographic region. Must be a project completed in 2024 or 2025.

2025 Recipient:

The goal of the project was the rehabilitation of a 151-year-old, two-barrel masonry arch bridge carrying Montgomery Street over the Assunpink Creek in the City of Trenton. The bridge is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places and is located in the Mill Hill Historic District, which is also on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. The bridge exhibited cracks of varying widths in the intrados of both arches, missing stones, missing and deteriorated pointing, an abandoned water main which penetrated the arch barrels, a gas main attached to the east (upstream) fascia, deteriorated and out of alignment cast iron railing, as well as cracked slate sidewalk and bluestone curb. In consultation with the NJ Historic Preservation Office, the cast iron railing, slate sidewalk and bluestone curb were all identified as key elements affecting the historic integrity of the bridge. TPD was selected by Mercer County to design the rehabilitation of the structure in a manner sympathetic to its historic characteristics. The final design was administratively approved by the NJ Historic Preservation office as a non-encroachment on the historic elements of the bridge and district, and as being compliant with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for historic preservation.

Congratulations to the 2025 Award Winners!