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NAVFAC Washington Announce 2022 Civilian and Military Engineers of the Year

19 October 2021
Capt. Eric J. Hawn, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Washington commanding officer, announced the 2022 Civilian and Military Engineers of the Year.
Capt. Eric J. Hawn, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Washington commanding officer, announced the 2022 Civilian and Military Engineers of the Year.

Gerrell Grant, electrical engineering branch head, Design and Construction Business Line and Lt. Cmdr. Clinton Lawson, director, Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division (FEAD) Public Works Department Annapolis, were selected as the Civilian and Military Engineer of the Year respectively.

“Congratulations to Mr. Grant, Lt. Cmdr. Lawson and all of our nominees for their service, dedication and professionalism,” said Hawn. “I commend and thank all of them for their outstanding contributions to the engineering profession and their exceptional support to our Supported Commanders, our Navy, and our Nation.”

Grant and Lawson were selected from a competitive field of talented engineers. The civilian engineer of the year nominees were Nathan Johnson, Public Works Department (PWD) Annapolis, Jason Grimes, Design and Construction Business Line, Kaleo Pedrina, PWD South Potomac-Indian Head and Kalpesh Patel, PWD South Potomac-Dahlgren. The military engineer of the year nominees were Lt. Samuel Beering, FEAD PWD Quantico, Lt. Nathan Henderson, Resident Officer in Charge of Construction Joint Base Andrews and Lt. Cmdr. Bart Laycock, FEAD PWD Washington.

Grant was surprised to be recognized with this honor and thanks his wife first and foremost for “being his biggest cheerleader.”

“I am extremely humbled and honored,” said the South Carolina native. “I will hold this recognition in the highest regards. I would be remised if I didn’t also thank all my current and previous supervisor who played a major role in my career development. I also want to give credit to all the extraordinarily talented individuals I work side by side with.”

Grant led 14 professional engineers and architects across multiple disciplines in executing construction projects from design to completion, including pre- and post-award design actions for more than 100 projects at eight sites in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. He managed over 40 projects valued at $200 million for the Naval Research Laboratory, supporting design and construction execution. As the senior electrical engineer, Grant was responsible for resolving detailed technical issues and mitigating project delays. He applied advanced engineering concepts and principles to provide innovative and accurate recommendations to correct unforeseen electrical system deficiencies.

Lawson noted that he was honored to be nominated for the award.

“I am extremely grateful for the mentorship from my senior leadership and the successes garnered by my team through their perseverance and hard work to keep the mission moving forward each day,” said the New Jersey native.

Lawson led over 60 government civilians and military officers and approximately 400 contractors in the execution of design, contracting and construction on over 65 projects and five major facility operational support contracts. He played a pivotal role in resolving complex engineering issues for the historic Naval Academy Chapel renovation, construction of the new Cybersecurity Facility (Hopper Hall) and mechanical upgrades at Rickover Hall. He developed creative solutions to minimize mission impacts for a $45 million renovation of MacDonough Hall in order to enable continuity of both classes and varsity athletics, while also lowering project cost.

NAVFAC Washington proudly participates in the annual National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Federal Engineer of the Year Award (FEYA) program to recognize the exceptional contributions that our engineers make to the profession, to our Supported Commanders and to the communities in which we live. Lawson and Grant have been nominated to compete in the overall NAVFAC SYSCOM Engineer of the Year program for even further recognition.
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