2012 Engineer of the Year nominees.

• Author: Dilley, Lorie
• Position: Special section: ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTURE

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MELISSA (MORMILO) BRANCH, PE

Nominated by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE)

Melissa Branch's favorite part of being an engineer? Being part of the growth and development of her community through both her work and volunteer activities. Anchorage is home to Melissa, despite having grown up as an Air Force brat. She graduated from Bartlett High School and obtained her civil engineering degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Branch is currently a project manager in the Civil Department at Enterprise Engineering Inc. She prefers site design, working with a team of architects and other engineers to design sites that complement the building use and connect the site to the community. Branch brings connection, accomplishment and integrity with her as an engineer and an active member of the community.

Branch's greatest leadership achievements have been as the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Greatland Section President and as Region J Lieutenant Governor. In these two roles, Branch has done an exemplary job of motivating, informing and organizing members. She has participated in almost every SWE Greatland event in the past seven years. Besides SWE, she volunteers with Junior Achievement, helping prepare young people for the real world by teaching them how to generate and manage wealth. Branch also serves as co-chair of the United Way Emerging Leaders Advisory Council (UWELAC), helping cultivate the next generation of philanthropists, advocates and volunteers in Anchorage through personal leadership development and community involvement. She was honored by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce as one of 2009's Top 40 Under 40.

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PAT COLLINS, PE

Nominated by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)

Pat Collins is the Petroleum Engineering Discipline Advisor for BP in Alaska. His career spans 29 years. Born in Cork, Ireland, Collins received a BS in Civil Engineering from University College Cork and an MS in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland in 1982. He started with BP and worked North Sea fields in London, Holland and Scotland, conducting well testing of exploration wells and developing depletion plans for oil and gas discoveries. In 1990, Collins was posted to Alaska as a production engineering team leader, responsible for management of subsurface issues in Prudhoe. He then worked on the North Slope, supervising well-site activities that improved oil production, including coil tubing interventions and fracking. He next provided engineering support for the Endicott and Milne Point assets, focusing on improving well production...