NAVFAC Honors Enviornmental Engineer as Atlantic's Best

By Becki Lee, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- Joanne Truong, Senior Environmental Engineer, was recently named as Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic's 2011 Engineer of the Year. Truong was selected over a number of other highly qualified engineers who were nominated for this honor.

"We determined Mrs. Truong to be the most deserving based upon her professional qualifications, technical affiliations, civic activities, and recent engineering achievements," said Angel Ho, the head of the selection board. "Her role as the Environmental Program Manager for the Navy's Overseas Water Quality Oversight Program has had significant impacts in ensuring the health and safety of the Navy's overseas workforce."

"It was truly an honor to be selected as NAVFAC Atlantic's Engineer of the Year. I have thoroughly enjoyed my career as an engineer for the Navy," said Truong. "Knowing I had a role in improving the water quality at our facilities here in the U.S. and abroad to improve the quality of life for our military and their families is very gratifying. I want to thank my fellow team members, managers, and my family for all the help and support they have given me throughout the years. Without their support, this would not have been possible."

A member of the American Water Works Association, Truong works in the Clean Air and Water section of the Environmental Compliance Branch at NAVFAC Atlantic where she chairs the Navy Water Quality Oversight Program. The program, consisting of several business lines and echelons of NAVFAC, Navy Installations and the Navy Bureau of Medicine, has the objectives of establishing Navy strategy and policy and implementing operational standards to ensure the health and safety of the Navy overseas workforce.

Her efforts to regulate water quality overseas also include the establishment of a two-part program. The first, the Certificate to Operate program includes a management system to ensure the water systems are designed, constructed, operated, monitored and maintained in accordance with the regulatory requirements of an equivalent stateside Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified program. Second, the Operator Certification program trains operators to protect public health and to conserve and protect the water resources of the Navy Overseas Drinking Water Systems by providing a standard of excellence and a certification of competency to supervise and operate the treatment and distribution facilities.

Truong also leads a nation-wide working group to implement the requirements of the Uniform Federal Policy for Quality Assurance Plans (UFP-QAPP) and the EPA Quality Assurance Project Plans. She developed the procedures and responsibilities regarding sampling and analysis performance standards for approximately $5 million of environmental studies performed annually by the Navy that involve environmental sampling and testing to ensure effective use of limited resources. QAPP will be implemented Navy-wide for all compliance media (air, water, waste, etc.), ensuring that contractors performing environmental laboratory tests perform the appropriate level of UFP-QAPP requirements.

When she's not busy keeping the Navy's water clean, Truong is very active in the community. She volunteers on a weekly basis at the Tidewater Chinese School, where she teaches Chinese culture and language. She is a regular participant in Relay for Life, raising funds for cancer awareness, and Clean the Bay Day, a project to restore areas of the Chesapeake Bay. Truong also works with families in the Hampton Roads area that have adopted Chinese children to help them maintain their cultural heritage.

This win places her in the running to be NAVFAC HQ's nominee for the Federal Engineer of the Year Award. Sponsored by the Professional Engineers in Government, this honor is awarded to an engineer employed by a federal agency that employs at least 50 engineers worldwide. The Federal Engineer of the Year is selected by a panel of judges who consider engineering achievements, education, continuing education, awards and honors, and civic and humanitarian activities.

This article was sponsored by Police Books.