Paul Dombrowski Receives National Recognition From WEF

It is always exciting for me to see our colleagues and friends get recognized for their contributions to their chosen profession. So as a water professional myself, and a leader within Woodard & Curran that is focused on solving the nation’s greatest water and environment challenges, you might imagine how satisfying it is to announce one of our technical experts’ recent acknowledgement for his contributions to the water profession. 

This month, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) named our very own Paul Dombrowski, PE, PLS, BCEE a WEF Fellow. This is quite an accomplishment as Paul is one of only roughly 100 individuals worldwide recognized with this distinction in the history of this program, and he is only the third consulting engineer in New England to have received this honor. For those who are not familiar with WEF, it is a not-for-profit association that represents water quality professionals around the world with the mission of connecting the various disciplines in the water industry, providing technical education for thousands of water quality professionals, informing the public about the value of clean water, and fostering innovation in the water sector.  Each year the organization nominates distinguished members of the organization as Fellows to recognize their achievements, stature, and contributions to the water profession. 

Technical excellence advances our national wastewater practice

Over the past couple years, as Woodard & Curran has begun to grow in earnest and we’ve expanded our services into new regions across the country, it’s become more important to ensure each of our service lines is moving in a consistent, strategic direction as a whole. One of the first key steps in doing this was to identify National Practice Leaders within the firm to serve as guides in defining our standards, ensuring technical distinction among our peers, and facilitating resource sharing across our geographic range. For our sanitary wastewater practice, Paul was an easy choice for this role.

We know that issues like nutrient removal are important to our clients across the country; Paul has been and continues to be on the cutting edge of the research and innovation surrounding this and many other aspects of wastewater treatment. On behalf of Woodard & Curran, he has developed partnerships with universities to investigate and develop promising wastewater treatment technologies. An additional focus of his has been on advancing practical innovations to enhance the capacity and performance of existing treatment infrastructure, helping operators maximize nutrient removal capabilities under wet weather conditions through the use of secondary clarifier performance optimization and the variable operating mode techniques he’s pioneered. Paul is always seeking to advance our technical practice at Woodard & Curran and across the profession, and this passion for technical excellence is truly contagious.

Shaping the future of the profession

Paul’s work is representative of the contributions our firm is making to the various constituencies of the water profession too. His research, innovations, and industry leadership allow our teams to understand and resolve challenges our clients or staff are facing every day. Over his more than 10 years with Woodard & Curran, Paul has not only served as the technical lead on the evaluation, design, construction, and startup of numerous successful upgrade projects, but has been an instrumental advocate for a focus on collaboration between engineers and plant operations, which has made a significant impact on our overall approach to project work. 

What’s really important about Paul’s expertise is that he is passionate about sharing it with others, educating his peers through the various outlets available to him, including his leadership roles in industry associations, contributions at national and regional conferences, the numerous operator training classes he provides, and his authorship and editorial contributions to seven WEF Manuals of Practice on wastewater system design and operations. This is the type of leadership that we think makes a difference, not only in the continuous development of a group of smart, capable engineers, but in the service we’re able to provide to our clients. 

Paul is a great example for us to look to and pushes the rest of us to continue searching for the next best solution while collaborating productively with our partners on projects; all of us here at Woodard & Curran are fortunate to work with him every day. His work and commitment represent the gold standard we’re aiming for that will allow us to make the most positive and substantial impact possible for the communities we serve, and with his technical leadership, we’re on the right track. 

As part of the work that goes into expanding our firm’s national prominence as a premier water and environment company, it is important that we take the time to celebrate the contributions that our teams are making to the science and implementation of best practices in our industry. Paul’s influence on Woodard & Curran’s services and his involvement in our industry at large is impressive, and I am proud to call him my business partner and friend.

 

Author

Joe Barbagallo President Consulting

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