Elizabeth Collins Burkhart, P.E., D.PE, F.ASCE, executive vice president of Collins Engineers Inc. and a structural engineer with more than 25 years’ experience specializing in coastal and waterfront structures, has been named a Fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction.
Burkhart’s involvement with ASCE began in the Student Chapter at Old Dominion University, where she was student chapter President in her senior year. She is currently an active member of the Ports and Harbors Committee of the Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI). Her service to the committee includes her role as Chair of the Ports ’19 Conference; Technical Co-Chair and Co-Editor of the Proceedings for the Ports ’16 conference; contributing author to the Waterfront Facilities Inspection and Assessment Manual of Practice; and founding Chair of the Berthing Velocity Subcommittee.
Outside of ASCE, she is a past chair and current member of the Standing Committee on Inland Water Transportation of the National Academies of the Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Transportation Research Board (TRB). She is also a member of the Standing Committee on Ports and Channels, serving as the vice chair of the Subcommittee on Port Performance. She was the U.S. representative to the Maritime Navigation Commission (MARCOM) Working Group 145: “Berthing velocity analysis of seagoing vessels over 30,000 dwt” of the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) from 2010 to 2017.
In her committee involvement, she has focused on building strong educational programs based on diverse stakeholder points of view. She has supported providing broader technical perspectives during conferences and annual meetings to encourage participation by a wider cross section of the maritime community. She has also been a proponent for increased participation of young professionals within the leadership of various committees.
Burkhart is a licensed professional engineer in several states. During her career, she also was a structural engineer for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Baumholder, Germany.
She holds a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Old Dominion University, a master of engineering in coastal structures from Old Dominion University, and a master of business administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
