Travis Lewis, a Program Manager at the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC), has been named the 2026 NAVFAC Engineer of the Year. This prestigious award recognizes him as the top civilian engineer across the worldwide NAVFAC enterprise.
“Being named 2026 NAVFAC Engineer of the Year is a tremendous honor, especially because it reflects the work of an exceptional team delivering mission critical support to the Fleet,” Lewis said.
Lewis serves as NAVFAC EXWC’s Program Manager for the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility Closure, and leads Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) initiatives and technical support to the Navy Closure Task Force - Red Hill in working to safely and expeditiously execute the permanent decommissioning of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (RHBFSF).
In addition, last year he began serving as NAVFAC’s representative for advanced manufacturing policy development in support of naval modernization and sustainment.
“Travis has been absolutely indispensable to NAVFAC as our point person on the Red Hill tank closure efforts these past years,” NAVFAC EXWC Commanding Officer Capt. Dean Allen said. “He also is a versatile engineer who most recently applied his multifaceted expertise and dynamic range to contribute to policy development for the Navy’s advanced manufacturing program.”
In the time since serving as a first responder to the Red Hill fuel release in 2021, he has led and provided consistent subject matter expert support across multiple closure efforts, advanced key RDT&E initiatives – including a University of Hawaii collaboration on a four-year, $10-million groundwater study – worked to implement tank cleaning verification procedures and enable methods to decommission the facility, and helped drive regulatory strategy and multi-agency coordination.
He credits success to the expertise and dedication of all those involved.
“The progress we’ve made on Red Hill has been a true team effort across NAVFAC, EXWC, and our regulatory partners and stakeholders,” he said. “I’m grateful for the trust, collaboration, and leadership that made these results possible, and I accept this recognition on behalf of everyone who contributed.”
NAVFAC Commander Rear Adm. Jeff Kilian announced the winners, saying Lewis and the military engineer of the year, Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Male from NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic, were chosen from a group of exceptional nominees, all of whom had first won at the command level.
“We are truly fortunate to have extraordinary engineers who serve NAVFAC and the Navy with selfless dedication and technical acumen. Both individuals help us continue to build on our 182-year legacy of outstanding support to the Navy and Marine Corps,” Kilian said.
Lewis will now compete for the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Federal Engineer of the Year Award program. The program recognizes exceptional contributions made by federal engineers to the engineering profession and to those organizations and communities they serve. The award ceremony will be held in Washington, D.C., on February 27.
A Navy Reserve Engineering Duty Officer currently on orders to NAVFAC EXWC, Lewis holds an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Colorado School of Mines, and is dual-licensed as a Professional Engineer in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has also been selected to serve as an Office of Naval Research (ONR Global) science advisor to the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/ U.S. 5th Fleet (NAVCENT/C5F) for a three-year development tour.
| Date Taken: |
01.22.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
01.22.2026 17:39 |
| Story ID: |
556575 |
| Location: |
US |
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19 |
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