NAVFAC's top construction engineer, construction manager, and engineering technician recognized for delivering important fleet support projects

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) recognized three members of its enterprise-wide construction technical staff Aug. 23 for their exemplary commitment to supporting the Navy's mission through readiness, decision-making, teamwork, and leadership in construction projects around the world.

Senior construction engineers Nikolaos Kokonas with NAVFAC Europe, Africa, Central (EURAFCENT); Andrew Lemelin with Officer in Charge of Construction (OICC) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY); and Jill Williams-Wright with NAVFAC Southwest were recognized at NAVFAC headquarters as the inaugural winners of its "Hard Hat of the Year" awards.

"These engineering professionals each have done tremendous work over the past year in ensuring that dozens of projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars were completed successfully and delivered to our supported commands," said Rear Adm. Dean VanderLey, NAVFAC commander and chief of Civil Engineers. "Because of their expertise, leadership, and commitment, the fleet can do what our nation needs it to do around the world."

To improve recognition of the Navy’s facilities construction community, NAVFAC implemented the Hard Hat Awards program in January 2023 for field office construction engineers, construction managers and engineering technicians. This program provides a structured avenue for recognizing the hard-working construction technical staff who must make difficult day-to-day construction management decisions and exercise technical authority on Navy construction projects.

Nikolaos, the only construction engineer at NAVFAC EURAFCENT's Souda Bay office, successfully delivered over 16 construction projects worth over $21 million. His award recognized his efforts to promote partnerships with both coworkers and contractors, processing contract modifications that are both in the best interests of the government and fair and reasonable for the contractors.

Lemelin delivered over $283 million worth of construction projects as a construction manager with OICC PNSY, including projects P-310 Super Flood Basin and P-1074 Extend Portal Crane, which were crucial to dry-docking USS Cheyenne (SSN 773) in April 2022. His award also recognized his ongoing work with a $1.7-billion multi-mission dry dock project at the shipyard, as well as his mentoring efforts with junior OICC staff.

Williams-Wright, an engineering technician at NAVFAC Southwest, successfully delivered five construction projects worth over $39 million. Her award recognized her efforts promoting teamwork between the contractor and Navy stakeholders to construct new facilities for Basic Training Command, Naval Special Warfare Center at Naval Amphibious Base, Naval Base Coronado -- all without interruption to the command's mission.

"In addition to being great examples for their fellow engineering technical staff, these awardees are considered great candidates for NAVFAC's Engineer of the Year awards," said Timothy Bayse, NAVFAC construction process lead and Hard Hat Awards coordinator. "I'm very proud of each of these professionals for their accomplishments, and for how their efforts help NAVFAC contribute to the readiness of our fleet and Marine Corps."