Urban is pleased to announce that Daniel B. Humes, PE, has been named the 2016 Young Engineer of the Year by the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers. This award is given annually to an engineer under the age of 35 who is a registered Professional Engineer or Engineer in Training, and has shown great achievement scholastically, in professional societies, and involvement with civic and humanitarian activities.
A dynamic engineering professional with experience in construction and civil engineering design, Mr. Humes specializes in stormwater management, erosion and sedimentation control, utility coordination and relocations, and land development design and permitting. As Urban’s site/land development practice leader, he is responsible for overseeing a department of engineers, designers, and surveyors. At the time of his promotion to his current position in 2014, Mr. Humes became, and still is, the youngest practice leader in Urban Engineers’ history. As his major accomplishments show, this distinction is well earned:
- As a project engineer and manager, Mr. Humes provided site/land development engineering design services for the award-winning, mixed-use, multilevel building complex called Paseo Verde, the first LEED Platinum Neighborhood Development in the country. The project included the first use of blue rooftops in the City of Philadelphia.
- Mr. Humes served as a project engineer for the reconstruction of Dilworth Park, a public plaza located west of Philadelphia’s historic City Hall. The reconstruction created a dramatic improvement to the underutilized public space, and improved accessibility and wayfinding to existing transit facilities.
- For the renovation and expansion of the Franklin Institute’s Nicholas and Athena Karabots Pavilion, Pennsylvania's most visited museum, Mr. Humes provided civil engineering design services. The new museum addition includes a conference center and exhibition space.
- As a design manager for the Sugarhouse Casino Expansion, Mr. Humes provided site/land development engineering design services. The expansion included additional gaming space, back of floor space, and a multi-story parking garage. In addition to the building expansion, the project includes the extensive site modifications to the northern half of the property, including two Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) relocations, a revised parking layout, revised site amenities, and the relocation of the Sugarhouse Drive entrance on North Delaware Avenue.
- In 2013, Mr. Humes was the project engineer behind the award-winning design for a retail retrofit in the national Soak It Up! Design Competition, a program focused on urban stormwater issues. The juried national competition was organized by the City of Philadelphia Water Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Community Design Collaborative. The Urban team's winning design, “Stormwater reStore,” revitalized an urban retail shopping center, turning it into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, community-oriented public space through the use of rain gardens, streetscape improvements, stormwater infiltration and storage, and landscaped stormwater features.
Mr. Humes obtained a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Arts in natural sciences from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. He supports various local fundraising and charitable efforts through 5K runs/walks and golf outings, supporting the local communities scholarship opportunities and research donations whenever possible. Mr. Humes is active in the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers’ Valley Forge chapter, and has been a longtime volunteer for MATHCOUNTS, an organization that provides engaging math programs to U.S. middle school students of all ability levels in order to build confidence and improve attitudes towards math and problem solving.