Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest Commanding Officer Capt. John J. Adametz presented Christopher Goulet and Lt. Daniel D. Cloutier with the 2015 NAVFAC Southwest civilian and military engineer of the year awards during a ceremony in San Diego Feb. 25.

The ceremony also recognized the command's newly licensed professional engineers and architects with Adametz presenting command coins to each.

Students from local highs schools attended the ceremony, listened to presentations from the commanding officer, chief engineer, safety officer, saw an AutoCAD demonstration, and toured project sites at Naval Base Coronado (NBC).

"This week we celebrated the 65th anniversary of National Engineers Week," said John Coon, NAVFAC Southwest Capital Improvements Business Line coordinator and chief engineer. "This year's theme is 'Engineers Make a World of Difference.' We had a great turnout at our awards ceremony where we recognized our 2015 Engineers of the Year, Lt. Daniel Cloutier and Christopher Goulet, and our newly licensed engineers and architects. Joining us at this event were Science, Technology, Engineering and Math students from Patrick Henry and Monarch High Schools. Other highlights included presentation of recent NAVFAC Southwest projects and engineering trivia throughout the week."

Goulet, NAVFAC Southwest lead mechanical engineer with the Coastal Integrated Product Team (IPT), was selected civilian engineer of the year for achievements that reduced energy and operations cost and improved the oversight of a construction project's performance testing.

Goulet was the expert and lead for steam decentralization projects managed from the Coastal IPT. His leadership and innovative approaches led the decentralization program to an estimated annual $7 million in reduced energy and operations cost.

He volunteered to take over as the mechanical designer of record for a rotary aircraft maintenance depot project that was behind schedule and experiencing heavy personnel turnover. He was involved with a commissioning team that improved oversight of the performance testing during a critical project phase. He was able to accomplish this by building a team of government and contractor experts to resolve long-standing discrepancies for the project.

Cloutier, NAVFAC Southwest assistant public works officer at NBC, was selected military engineer of the year for his leadership in integrating Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWAR), NBC and NAVFAC Southwest planning efforts to complete the Coastal Campus Area Development Plan and design guidelines governing development of 25 diverse and technically sophisticated military construction (MILCON) projects valued at $1 billion for execution over 10 years and his role in reviewing project documents and design review meetings.

Cloutier was involved with planning efforts for $12.5 million in critical maintenance dredging and bulkhead repair projects at NAVSPECWAR, Naval Surface Force and Naval Expeditionary Combat Command small craft operations. He facilitated long-range planning initiatives that achieved annual energy and water savings of $168,000 and 290,000 therms per year.

He also managed $170 million in contracts for construction of operational support facilities at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and executed a contract to restore power and communications service to critical base facilities damaged by the 2014 wildfires.

Goulet is a licensed mechanical engineer with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from San Diego State University. Cloutier is a licensed engineer with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from California State University in Sacramento, California.

"NAVFAC Southwest has been traditionally celebrating this event dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated engineering and architecture workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering, technology, and architectural careers," said Coon.

The newly licensed professional engineers and architects are Renato S. Tolentino II, Atanu Bhadra, Avelino Urbano Omo Jr., Lt. Charles F. Murdock, Lt. Travis R. Myers, Brandon Montoya, Lt. Brendan Bunn, Lt. George C. Tomala, Jorge Caceres, Erin B. Hicks, Joshua Turner, Tania Bove, Lt. Victor Wong, Lt. Hendrik Schoeman, and Lt. Yiu Bong Lee.

For more news from Naval Facilities Engineering Command, visit www.navy.mil/.