Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic announced its selections for the 2019 military and civilian engineers of the year awards, Oct. 12.

Lt. Genevieve Flatgard, CEC, assistant public works officer for Public Works Department, Naval Support Activity, Hampton Roads, was selected as the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Military Engineer of the Year, and Julie Heup, P.E., anti-terrorism force protection program manager in the Capital Improvements Business Line Core, was selected as the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Civilian Engineer of the Year.

“Congratulations to these two outstanding engineers who were selected as our military and civilian engineers of the year for 2019,” said NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Commanding Officer Capt. Rich Hayes. “Our nominees were evaluated in the areas of engineering achievements, civic and humanitarian activities, professional registration, continuing education, and professional and technical society involvement. These awards recognize the exceptional talent and achievements of both of these engineers.”

As an assistant public works officer (APWO) assigned to NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic, Flatgard responded to changing mission needs at Norfolk Naval Shipyard to solve design problems for future Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command facility needs. She prioritized more than $23 million worth of projects for fiscal year (FY) 2017 and 2018 project execution plans to meet fleet readiness requirements. 

After transferring to Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Flatgard again serving as an APWO, was assigned to coordinate all facility engineer support to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. In this role, she led continuous improvements of project planning, programing, and coordination between the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the installation and NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic. She also drove customer prioritization of more than $100 million in future projects.

“It is an honor to be named the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Military Engineer of the Year,” Flatgard said. “I am proud to represent the team of outstanding engineers who give their best supporting the Navy and Marine Corps mission each and every day.” 

Heup developed a creative acquisition strategy, a regional force protection template, and a facility checklist for security improvements at 62 off-installation sites in the Hampton Roads area to bring them into compliance with anti-terrorism force protection (ATFP) requirements and to protect Navy personnel working off base. These efforts enabled obligation of more than $5 million of FY17 funding. The strategy and template were developed as a prototype that could be used throughout the U.S. at approximately 600 locations.

As the command’s ATFP subject matter expert, Heup provides consultation, training, design, and review services, including code and criteria interpretation, analysis and design for blast construction, and progressive collapse prevention analysis and design throughout NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic, which is responsible for more than $1.2 billion in design annually.

“I am honored to be selected as the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Civilian Engineer of the Year,” Heup said. “It is incredibly humbling to receive individual recognition for ATFP program successes over the past year that are a result of the collaborative efforts of a diverse Navy team of design engineers and operations, security, and support personnel.”

Flatgard and Heup will now go on to compete for the NAVFAC Engineer of the Year awards and potentially for higher honors in the National Society of Professional Engineer's Federal Engineer of the Year award program.

NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic is the Systems Command that delivers and maintains quality, sustainable facilities, acquires and manages capabilities for the Navy's expeditionary combat forces, provides contingency engineering response, and enables energy security and environmental stewardship across an area of responsibility that spans from Georgia to Maine and as far west as Illinois. As an integral member of the Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic team, NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic provides leadership through the Regional Engineer organization to ensure the region's facilities and infrastructure are managed efficiently and effectively.

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