Phillip M. Galbo, P.E., F.ASCE, chief operations officer and transportation department manager of Watts Architecture and Engineering, in New York, has been named a Fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction.
Galbo has been a consulting engineer for 32+ years, and has managed and designed a wide range of civil engineering projects over his career. Watts is a 100+ person E/A firm with offices in Buffalo, Syracuse, and Brooklyn, New York.
Galbo’s body of work has comprised hundreds of routine projects as well as numerous complex transportation and infrastructure projects, including bridges, highways, streetscape rehabilitations, site development, and utility improvements. He has routinely had the opportunity to lead a team of consultants as a project’s prime consultant and has also served as Watts’ project manager as a subconsultant on many of western New York’s largest and most complex heavy highway/civil projects. As a prime consultant he has managed projects with construction values ranging from $100,000 to $30 million and, over the course of his career, has been responsible for an estimated $200 million in construction work. As a subconsultant, Galbo has managed Watts’ participation on projects with construction values up to $60 million, and an overall construction value estimated at $500 million.
The department he leads has received many awards for engineering excellence for projects throughout New York State. Galbo is a 29-year member of ASCE, is the past president of the Western Section of the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York, and is currently active in many of the organization’s statewide committees. In 2014, he was recognized as the Engineering Manager of Year by the Erie–Niagara Chapter of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers.
In a supervisory capacity, Galbo is responsible for Watts’ entire Transportation Department, which involves planning, organizing, and supervising a staff of up to 20 civil/transportation engineers and technicians. He evaluates the progress of the each project and is responsible to achieve the overall objectives of a high-quality deliverable, on-time delivery and within budget. He is also responsible for business development, staff recruitment, retention, and overall supervision of the transportation engineering staff; contract negotiations; procurement of all department supplies and equipment; staff training and development; and the preparation of invoices. As a working principal of the firm, Galbo routinely performs detailed design work and report writing on the largest and most complex transportation projects in the office, including most bridge work and prime contracts.
As the firm’s chief operations officer, he works closely with the president, vice president, and chief financial officer to develop and implement business strategies, plans, and procedures; set goals for performance and growth; establish policies that promote company culture and vision; and generally oversee daily operations of the company (IT, marketing, finance, physical offices, and technical). As a member of the senior management team, he collaborates and advises on a wide range of corporate affairs.
Galbo holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and an MBA in finance. He is a professional engineer in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
