Jerzy Salamon is Reclamation's Engineer of the Year

Recognized for his work on the safety evaluation of dams and dam structures

Media Contact: Peter Soeth, 303-445-3615, psoeth@usbr.gov

For Release: February 25, 2021

Jerzy SalamonWASHINGTON – Jerzy W. Salamon, P.E., S.E., Ph.D., is the Bureau of Reclamation's Engineer of the Year for 2021. Salamon is recognized for his initiative, development and involvement in various research aspects and contributions to Reclamation's mission and efforts within national and international technical organizations and committees to enhance concrete dam assessments. He is a finalist for Federal Engineer of the Year hosted by the National Society of Professional Engineers.

“As the nation celebrates Engineers Week, I congratulate Jerzy for being named Reclamation’s Engineer of the Year,” said Bureau of Reclamation Senior Advisor to the Secretary Camille Calimlim Touton. “Jerzy's leadership and contributions in the field of dam safety has helped expand and inform the global engineering community. I thank all the engineers across Reclamation who work every day to protect lives and property throughout the West.”

Salamon is a civil and structural engineer in Reclamation's Technical Service Center in Denver, Colorado. He serves as a reviewer, technical approver, advisor and member of the Dam Safety Advisory Team for work related to Reclamation's dams and associated structures' safety evaluation. He has been involved in several projects, including penstock conditions assessments for flow-induced and seismic loads at Hoover Dam, structural evaluation of discharge pipes at Grand Coulee's John W. Keys Plant, design and construction of the new auxiliary spillway and modifications to the existing spillway at Folsom Dam, and safety assessment of Seminoe Dam.

He has participated in several research projects that have advanced the knowledge of dams. This research includes work on materials and assessment methods for concrete dams. He also is an author and co-author of multiple journals and conference technical publications.

Jerzy obtained his M.S. in structural engineering and Ph.D. in structural mechanics from the Cracow University of Technology in Poland and an M.S. degree in geotechnical engineering from the University of Colorado in Denver. As the chairman of the United States Society on Dams Committee on Concrete Dams, he has organized activities of the committee and managed multiple avenues of technical education through technical sessions and workshops since 2016. The USSD Board delegated Jerzy to represent the committee at the International Committee on Large Dams Forum. He is actively involved in devolving ICOLD technical bulletins and was recently appointed the officer for the 2021 ICOLD Congress in Marseille, France.

As a mentor, Jerzy advises younger engineers, engages and guides engineers in research programs, develops Reclamation’s guidelines, organizes technical courses related to concrete dams for government employees and workshops for the entire engineering community.

Other engineers that were recognized as Reclamation's regional engineers of the year are:

Missouri Basin: Michael Follum

Columbia-Pacific Northwest: Benjamin Taylor

Upper Colorado Basin: Anthony Lampert, Justin Record, and Ryan Proctor

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