A hydraulic engineer from the Hydraulics and Hydrology branch of the Tulsa District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was named as a top five finalist from the Corps of Engineers for the 2017 Federal Engineer of the Year Award.
James Croston, chief of the Technical Services Section is among the top 25 professional engineers in the Federal Government, and was honored during the Federal Engineer of the Year Award ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2017.
The Professional Engineers in Government annually sponsors the Federal Engineer of the Year Award. The organization is affiliated with the he National Society of Professional Engineers.
Croston, said the award is as much a credit to the people he works with as it is to him.
“As a supervisor of engineers and technicians the only way that I can do well is because they do well,” he said. “I look at this as an ‘H’ and ‘H’ award. My accomplishments are representative of things many people did over many years.”
The Federal Engineer of the Year award is presented to either a civilian or military engineer who works for a Federal Agency that employs at least 50 professional engineers.
As a supervisory engineer, Croston oversees more than 120 real-time reporting stations managed by the U.S. Geological Survey through the National Cooperative of stream gauging program. He is also responsible for more than 160 water supply agreements.
Croston’s accomplishments include overseeing a national and regional effort to develop a software package that is the next generation of real-time water control software. This software is being incorporated into the Corps water Management System.
Croston noted that by being nominated demonstrates his supervisor’s appreciation for the work force.
“It feels good to have bosses nominate you. These award nomination packages take time and require a lot of writing,” Croston said. “If someone is willing to take the time to write about an employee that says a lot.”