VHB employees Wayne B Symonds and Stephanie Wyman have been named Vermont’s Engineer of the Year and Young Engineer of the Year, respectively, for 2023. Symonds, a senior structural engineer, joined VHB's South Burlington office last year after retiring from a 29-year career at the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Wyman, a project engineer, also at VHB's South Burlington location, joined the company in 2017 from a civil engineering firm in Pennsylvania.
Symonds is noted for his strong leadership and innovative approach to problem solving, he was appointed chief engineer by Governor Scott to lead the Highway Division in 2017. Among his many accomplishments and innovations as a bridge designer, Symonds led the implementation of integral abutment bridge construction in Vermont, simplifying construction of bridges and reducing maintenance costs, saving Vermont millions of dollars over the last 20 years.
He is a member of the Vermont Society of Engineers, a past member of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and a former board member for the Florida International University Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center.
Since joining VHB, Wyman’s primary focus has been working in the energy market, specializing in the design and permitting of commercial ground-mounted solar arrays. Among her more notable design projects are two ground-mounted solar installations at the iconic Shelburne Museum and an innovative 5 megawatt solar project currently under construction at Middlebury College.
Wyman has served as president of the Vermont Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2021-22 and is currently a Region 1 governor of ASCE.
Both Symonds and Wyman will be honored at the annual Engineers Week celebration Feb 24 at the Delta Hotel in South Burlington.