Russell E. Tripp, P.E., F.ASCE, senior aviation engineer at CH2M Hill (now part of Jacobs), has been named a fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction.
Tripp has more than 50 years of worldwide civil engineering design, construction, and management experience, and has been employed by engineering firms, land developers, construction contractors, and government agencies.
He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, with 28 years of Regular Army and Army Reserve service in a variety of engineer, special operations, and other assignments in the United States, Thailand, Germany, Vietnam, and Panama. After completing his Regular Army service in 1971, he used his G.I. Bill benefits for flight training, and he is a licensed commercial pilot with airplane, seaplane, and helicopter ratings.
Tripp’s aviation interest led to five years of service with the FAA, managing federal aid projects for airport improvements in Florida until 1979. Since that time his entire professional career has been in airport design, construction and related planning, and other consulting services. His work in the U.S. has included projects at public airports in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Texas, Kentucky, New York, and Florida. His foreign experience includes design, construction, and planning/evaluation work for public and military airports in The Philippines, Guam, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai, Afghanistan, India, several Caribbean islands, and Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.
His ASCE participation began at the University of Cincinnati, where he was president of the student chapter, and he is a current member and former treasurer of the ASCE Miami-Dade Branch in Florida.
Tripp’s most unique experience was in 1997, when he represented CH2M Hill in a delegation of consultants visiting North Korea. The delegation evaluated improvements needed at an airfield as part of a then-anticipated internationally supported nuclear power plant replacement program. The delegation members traveled on North Korean aircraft and had direct working and social contact with North Korean officials. They also made escorted visits to several nonmilitary sites within the country.
Tripp’s college-level education includes a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Cincinnati, an MBA from Florida International University, and a diploma from the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.