AECOM's BSCES Outreach

AECOM’s promise to deliver a better world refers to more than the delivery of infrastructure projects to our clients, it also encompasses our employee’s personal drive to give back to the communities where we live and work.

You can’t mention engineering outreach in the Boston area without one name coming to mind – Reed Brockman.  Reed has several passions: his family, his dog, equity and diversity, bridge inspections, and, obviously, outreach.  Reed is one of the most respected bridge and tunnel inspectors in Massachusetts and regularly travels both nationally and internationally to share his expertise.  When bad things happen to Massachusetts bridges and tunnels, Reed often gets the middle-of-the-night call.  He has been known to leave in the middle of vacation to perform emergency inspections.  However, in his spare time, Reed is involved mentoring high school students from Boston Green Academy, helps coordinate the BSCES model bridge and future city competitions and gives bridge tours for both WTS and BSCES. He is the youth council chair for MassHire Metro North, chairs the ASCE Pre-College Outreach Committee and BSCES Public Awareness and Outreach Committee, and he is involved with the ACEC STEM Outreach Taskforce and AECOM’s National STEM Champions Committee. Reed is passionate about sharing his joy and excitement for engineering to encourage young people to join the field.

One of those engineers Reed inspired to enter the civil engineering profession was Rich Matson, a structural engineer in our Boston office. In July of 2005, the summer before Rich’s senior year of high school, he was doing what many high school seniors do – trying to out a college major and eventual career.  Rich attended an engineering camp at Merrimack College call the Summer Transportation Institute (STI). The STI camp is sponsored by MassDOT with the goal of ensuring a larger and more experienced source of engineering graduates by encouraging students to consider transportation related fields.  Reed was there volunteering, and Rich remembers meeting him vividly.  Reed was demonstrating bridge design software and Rich was struck by his energy and his genuine excitement for bridges and bridge inspections.  Rich decided that summer that bridges, and more specifically, bridge inspection, was the career for him.  Rich majored in Civil Engineering and returned to the STI as a counselor for the following 3 summers. 

Reed Brockman, national lead, tunnel inspections, performing bridge tours

Fast forward 17 years and Rich is a team leader in AECOM’s bridge inspection group, responsible for leading an entire team of inspectors ensuring safe and thorough inspections are performed. Thanks to Reed’s example, he’s also another model of outreach in the office.  Rich serves as the BSCES younger member group liaison to Merrimack College, the ASCE practitioner advisor to Merrimack College and is also a judge for the ASCE/AISC student bridge competition. Rich isn’t the only AECOM employee that Reed has inspired.  Jim Velino volunteers for the BSCES model bridge competition and Deanna Kondek recently returned to her alma mater, Wentworth, to share her experience and her passions with the Civil Engineering graduating class of 2022.

Jay Duncan, senior vice president and transportation planner,
serving with Patient Airlift Services

Another AECOM employee, Jay Duncan, senior vice president and transportation planner, has combined one of his hobbies with a desire to help others.  Patient Airlift Services (PALS) is a non-profit serving medical patients, especially veterans, who require long distance diagnosis, treatment or follow up and are unable to fly commercially.  Jay, a licensed private pilot, offers free non-emergency air transportation for underserved individuals who require medical treatment or humanitarian aid across the eastern United States.  Jay also flies family members as compassionate missions to ensure patients have support when they are away from home for long periods of time.  PALS is a registered nonprofit, 501(c)(3).  The pilots donate their time and aircraft and receive no compensation.  Since 2010, PALS has provided 25,000 flights and flown over 5.4 million miles. 

These are just a few highlights of some of the volunteer work done by AECOM employees.  AECOM is proud of our employees and the contributions they each offer to make the world a better place.