very year, the local chapters of national and international engineering organizations nominate one engineer to represent them as a potential Engineer of the Year, as chosen by Engineers Week Anchorage. The engineers are nominated based on the quality of their work, their participation in the engineering and local communities, and other contributions they make to the profession. Below are the six nominees for the 2025 Engineer of the Year; the winner will be announced during Engineers Week, which is taking place this year from February 22 to 28.

Originally from Minnesota, Matt Olson came to Alaska in the summer of 2006 after graduating from St. Cloud State University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. What began as a chance to explore the state quickly turned into a long-term commitment, and Alaska has been home ever since.

Olson has spent nearly twenty years designing building systems for interesting and challenging projects across Alaska. Now an associate and senior mechanical engineer at AMC Engineers, Olson brings a practical, hands-on approach to engineering and project management. His experience covers a wide range of new construction and renovation projects, with a primary focus on healthcare facilities.

A Certified Healthcare Constructor, Olson specializes in complex and highly technical healthcare projects, including hospitals, operating rooms, sterile processing departments, laboratories, pharmacies, cleanrooms, emergency departments, and specialty medical and imaging spaces. His experience spans new construction, phased and occupied renovations, LEED certified facilities, code compliance evaluations, master planning, construction administration, and commissioning.

When opportunities present themselves, Olson shares his knowledge and experience with other medical field design professionals at both local and national conferences. He has presented on topics including compounding pharmacy design and regulatory compliance.

Olson particularly enjoys the technical design challenges often encountered within healthcare facilities. He is committed to providing safe, reliable, and operator/maintenance friendly mechanical design solutions for projects throughout Alaska.

Brad Coy is Anchorage’s municipal traffic engineer and Traffic Engineering Department director, where he leads a team that operates, maintains, and improves the city’s transportation system. Coy earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Brigham Young University and is a licensed Professional Engineer and certified Professional Traffic Operations Engineer.

In 2024 and 2025, Coy advanced several high-profile engineering initiatives in Anchorage, including protected bike lane pilot projects, a refresh of the city’s Vision Zero traffic injury reduction program, and a new Neighborhood Greenways program. His strong working relationship with the State of Alaska continues to be instrumental. Coy also spearheaded Anchorage’s effort to become a member city of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO).

Coy is actively engaged in professional leadership and service at the local, state, and national levels. He served on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Alaska Section Board from 2021–2024, serves as the Roadways Focus Area Leader for the State of Alaska Strategic Highway Safety Plan, and chairs the Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions Technical Advisory Committee. He is a member of the NACTO Designing Cities Conference Program Committee and is beginning his service as vice-chair of the ITE International Public Agency Council. Coy is also involved in the UAA Civil Engineering Advisory Council, regularly visits local classrooms, and organized the Engineering and Skilled Trades section of the Academies of Anchorage 2025 Freshman Career Expo.

Coy bike commutes year-round and enjoys outdoor adventures with his wife and five children.

Bryan McLellan is a senior petroleum engineer with the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC), responsible for permitting oil and gas wells across the state and for enforcing AOGCC regulations. He is also the Orphan Wells Program manager for Alaska, responsible for implementing the Orphan Wells Plugging Program. He previously worked for BP, where he spent more than twenty years as a drilling, completions, interventions, and well abandonment engineer in Alaska, Norway, and Azerbaijan.

McLellan has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and is a registered Professional Petroleum Engineer in the State of Alaska. He is married and has two children and two hunting dogs. He enjoys boating in Prince William Sound, skiing, and spending time in the Alaska outdoors with his family and friends.

Ken Pigg earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University. His diverse career has taken him all around the United States, most recently Alaska, where he has spent the past six years. He worked for twenty-two years in nuclear power generation, including electrical design work for eight commercial reactors and the Hanford N reactor. The last ten years in that field were spent on a team that acquired licenses to build new nuclear plants. Other experience areas include design for the largest molybdenum mine in the world in Climax, Colorado; technical sales of electrical distribution and control equipment; and IT equipment including cybersecurity, networking, storage, and backup systems.

Currently Pigg is a facilities engineer for GCI, which has more than 1,000 facilities across Alaska. Projects range from tiny villages to major networking hubs. Types of projects include satellite earth stations, wireless sites, central offices, communications shelters, and a major pipeline. His most interesting project was the first-of-its-kind addition of rubber bladders to a communications tower on top of a small mountain to prevent ice accumulation.

Pigg’s volunteer time has included the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers, Launch Alaska, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). His IEEE volunteer roles included chair and treasurer in Oklahoma City, Eastern North Carolina, and Alaska sections. At the regional level, his service included treasurer for two regions and a conference. At the international level, he served on the board of Educational Activities, Finance Committee, and Conferences Committee. Pigg is currently serving as Past-Chair of IEEE Alaska and a third term as IEEE-USA treasurer.

Xuan Ta is a principal electrical engineer at RSA Engineering and one of Alaska’s most respected technical leaders, known for her four decades of expertise, mentorship, and dedication to advancing the engineering profession. Born in Vietnam, she immigrated to Alaska as a teenager in 1975. Ta learned English, excelled academically, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from UAF in 1982—the only woman in her engineering cohort.

Ta joined RSA in 1988 as the firm’s first female electrical engineer and quickly established herself as a trusted expert in complex electrical design. Over her career, she has led projects across healthcare, housing, education, government, and industrial markets, consistently delivering reliable, efficient, and client-focused solutions. Her work has taken her far beyond Alaska, including three tours at the South Pole as an on-site inspector for the US Navy, where she oversaw critical facilities and earned the Navy’s confidence for her precision and professionalism in extreme environments.

As a principal engineer and longtime mentor, Ta plays a pivotal role in shaping RSA’s next generation of engineers. She is known for her calm leadership style, thoughtful problem-solving, and unwavering commitment to high-quality design. Her career stands as a testament to resilience, technical excellence, and the vital contributions women make in engineering.

David Gamez is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer and certified Professional Traffic Operations Engineer with Lounsbury & Associates in Anchorage. He serves as the engineering group staff manager and project manager on a wide range of transportation projects. Originally from Southern California, Gamez moved to Anchorage in 2012 to pursue his engineering career and passion for the outdoors. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from California State University, Fullerton, and has dedicated his career to advancing safe, efficient, and community-focused roadway systems.

Gamez specializes in multimodal transportation design, traffic operations, and safety engineering. Over the past fifteen years, he has delivered projects for state and local agencies across the western United States, including preventive maintenance projects, major corridor reconstructions, roundabout design, and complex traffic signal upgrades. His portfolio includes more than eighty signalized intersection improvements in Alaska and Washington, along with engineer-of-record and project management roles on major Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and Municipality of Anchorage projects, such as urban highway interchanges and multimodal safety and mobility improvements.

Beyond his technical work, Gamez is an active leader in the civil engineering community. He has served as president of the ASCE Alaska Section and continues to participate in statewide advocacy through the Alaska Professional Design Council. He also chairs the 2025 Report Card for Alaska’s Infrastructure and mentors students through the Anchorage School District’s Career & Technical Education programs to help develop Alaska’s future engineering workforce.

Outside of work, Gamez enjoys spending time with his family, competitive cycling, and exploring trails across the country.