NAVFAC Southwest's Select 2022 Military & Civilian Engineers, Designer of the Year Announced

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

10.27.2021

Story by Mario Icari 

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southwest

SAN DIEGO - Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southwest Commanding Officer Capt. Michael Oestereicher announced Lt. Cmdr. Carl Chase and Jacqueline Oravitz were selected as NAVFAC Southwest's military and civilian engineers of the year, and Suzanne Duffy was selected as NAVFAC Southwest's designer of the year, Oct. 27 in San Diego.
"These exceptional civilians and officer represent all the superb professionals of the NAVFAC Southwest team and have earned this distinction through dedicated and sustained superior performance," said Oestereicher.
Chase is a civil engineer serving as a NAVFAC Southwest Assistant Operations Officer. He has swarmed course-corrections on multiple military construction (MILCON) projects across four of the Navy’s most dynamic installations. He proposed and implemented a joint execution of the project with Seabee labor and heavy horizontal construction specialty support to enable award of P-762 Combat Aircraft Loading Area on San Clemente Island, Calif. He has also served as the Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division Director for Naval Base Point Loma Public Works Department, where he tracked design engineer workloads and stakeholder priorities to ensure project packages were technically sound and met Navy mission needs prior to solicitation. His efforts to achieve 100 percent execution of fiscal year projects by end of Q3 enabled thorough technical analyses of contractor proposals while simultaneously capturing 20 percent in additional funds to support critical, but previously unfunded, facility requirements.
Oravitz is a civil engineer serving as the Utilities Water Program Manager at the Naval Air Station Lemoore where she oversaw the design, management and operation of the Water Treatment Plant (WTP), distribution systems projects, and most notable is the WTP Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in civil engineering, but her education did not stop there. She has continuously taken workshops and courses related to her career and utilized her skills and knowledge to train, manage and lead. Oravitz has conducted hundreds of hours of training for WTP Operator personnel and served as the WTP Lead Operator for six months. Her expertise has led to multiple consultation requests on advanced water issues. Oravitz resolved design failures and water quality issues at Jim Creek Facility from 2018-2020, resolved a persistent Legionella issue at a hospital in Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, conducted process analysis and calculations for Naval Facility Deveselu in Romania, and provided plant design and filtration consultation at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy from 2020-2021. Oravitz also served on the Navy’s Water Quality Oversight Council Technical Assessment Board.
Duffy is a senior Interior Designer for the China Lake Earthquake Recovery Program, which has an estimated $70 million in furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) for MILCON repair projects and support projects. She has worked with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to establish standards for NAVAIR facilities and worked to accelerate design and construction schedules. Duffy also represented Navy Interior Design in the General Services Administration Acquisition Group and helped establish procurement avenues and strategies for acquisition and design groups across federal service, served as liaison to Naval Supply Systems Command during the development of the furniture criteria for the blanket purchase agreements, and continues to be a technical expert in FF&E performance requirements.
“We have so many talented and motivated engineers and designers to choose from and it is with great pride to recognize these individuals for their embodiment of the NAVFAC Southwest legacy of excellence,” said John Coon, NAVFAC Southwest chief engineer and Design & Construction Business Line leader.
The NAVFAC Southwest annual awards program recognizes engineers, architects, landscape architects, and interior designers who portray excellence in engineering achievements, civic and humanitarian activities, as well as professional and technical activities. NAVFAC Southwest personnel selected as engineers of the year are entered into a national awards program associated with the National Society of Professional Engineers.

• Date Taken: 10.27.2021
• Date Posted: 10.28.2021 14:50
• Story ID: 408253
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US