LaBella Celebrates Professional Engineers Day 2025 With Insights From Some of Our PEs
In honor of Professional Engineers Day—a national day of recognition that highlights the skill, dedication, and impact of licensed Professional Engineers—we asked LaBella’s talented Professional Engineers to tell us more about the excitement, purpose, and drive that fuels their work.
The LaBellans highlighted below are comprised of a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, and career stages. We asked one of four questions, ranging from what inspired them to become a licensed Professional Engineer to the advice they’d offer someone considering licensure. Their answers offer insight into not only the work they do but also the impact they’re making—within LaBella and beyond.
How has licensure helped shape your career or opened doors for you?
Name: Derrick Burgess, PE
Location: Rochester, NY
Title/Focus Area: Civil Engineer
Licensure leads to plenty of opportunities both internal and external to LaBella. Within LaBella, it allows you to become a shareholder more easily and take on larger roles in projects, and supports overall career advancement. Outside of LaBella, it shows clients that we have the technical expertise to give them the best solutions possible and further builds a level of trust with them, leading to future partnership opportunities.
What inspired you to become a Professional Engineer?
Name: Jason Ebbs, PE
Location: Rochester, NY
Title/Focus Area: Senior Civil Engineer/Municipal Group Leader
I became an engineer to give back to the community I live in and to help contribute to the greater good. In this line of work, we’re able to make a real difference, whether it’s providing people with fresh, reliable, and safe drinking water, or helping communities maintain sanitary systems that protect public health. At the end of the day, I take pride in knowing that I’ve played at least a small part in making people’s lives better. That’s what drives me.
What’s one project you’re especially proud to have worked on as a PE?
Name: John Fersner, PE
Location: Greensboro, NC
Title/Focus Area: Senior Civil Engineer
In the early 1980’s, marinas along the South Carolina coast were discouraged due to their negative impact on water quality. Wexford Plantation on Hilton Head Island took on the ambitious task of constructing an inland marina by excavating out high ground. My responsibility was to write the computer program that would simulate the entire tidal cycle over a month and the resulting flushing capabilities to ensure water quality was to be maintained in the proposed inland marina. Upon completion of construction, I had the opportunity to take velocity measurements to validate the constructed flushing performance. It was truly gratifying to find that the actual flushing pushed by the tidal cycle was actually greater than calculated. That inland marina still stands today.
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a licensed PE?
Name: Edward Larkin, PE
Location: Albany, NY
Title/Focus Area: Eastern Regional Manager
Becoming a PE is the most important thing an engineer can accomplish early in their career. Hopefully you will go on to do much more impactful things, both externally on projects and internally in mentoring and developing staff, but getting that PE license is the first step.
What’s one project you’re especially proud to have worked on as a PE?
Name: Adam Lysiak, PE
Location: Buffalo, NY
Title/Focus Area: Electrical Group Leader
I’m especially proud to have worked on the water treatment plant expansion project in the City of Gastonia, North Carolina. Water is a resource we often take for granted in modern society, so when the municipality determined it needed a major expansion to keep pace with growth, I had the opportunity to learn about the entire treatment process and how to best support that goal. The project involved renovations across a wide range of equipment and building vintages, as well as the integration of cutting-edge technology into a new addition. It’s not often you get the chance to help support an entire city’s infrastructure, and I’m proud to have contributed to this effort.
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a licensed PE?
Name: Jared Pristach, PE
Location: Rochester, NY
Title/Focus Area: Senior Environmental Engineer
Do it! It’s a major challenge with a lot of responsibility, but it is an incredibly rewarding experience. Getting your PE license allows you career flexibility and the ability to explore areas of design that interest you.
What inspired you to become a Professional Engineer?
Name: Cassidy Robinson, PE
Location: Scranton, PA
Title/Focus Area: Senior Civil Engineer
As a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, I often felt the subtle pressure to prove myself—not just through hard work, but by constantly affirming my right to be at the table. The PE license gave me more than technical validation; it gave me confidence. It’s a credential that can’t be second-guessed. When you sign off on drawings or take legal responsibility for engineering work, you’re recognized not just as capable, but as accountable and trusted.
Perhaps just as important, becoming a licensed engineer means being part of a small but growing group of women paving the way. When younger women see someone like them with “PE” after their name, it can spark the realization that they can do it too. That representation is powerful. Getting my PE wasn’t just a career decision, it was a personal achievement that affirms the value of persistence and a professional tool that gives me a platform to help shape the landscape for women in engineering.
What’s one project you’re especially proud to have worked on as a PE?
Name: Bob Steehler, PE
Location: Rochester, NY
Title/Focus Area: Senior Civil Engineer/Land Development Manager
How about two projects?? I enjoyed working on the Strong Neighborhood of Play project and now visit the updated museum with my kids. And of course, I’m very passionate about working on the new Bills Stadium!
What’s one project you’re especially proud to have worked on as a PE?
Name: Paul Stimpson, PE
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Title/Focus Area: Senior Civil Engineer
Hanes Lake Neighborhood in Winston-Salem, NC. We provided master planning for the neighborhood, including construction documents for all infrastructure and utilities, site layout plans for the 345 home sites, permitting, and construction administration services. The project site is 184 acres with 95 acres of open space, including walking trails and an existing 27-acre lake for boating and swimming.
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a licensed PE?
Name: Jeff Wackowski, PE
Location: Buffalo, NY
Title/Focus Area: Structural Engineer
Do design work by hand, know how to use the codes, take the practice exams, and study what you get wrong.
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a licensed PE?
Name: Timothy Webber, PE
Location: Rochester, NY
Title/Focus Area: Civil Division Director
Don’t get caught up in chasing perfection—be tenacious and focus on steady progress and trust your growth. The PE license is more than just a test; it’s a steppingstone to greater impact, responsibility, and the opportunity to shape the world through your work.
What’s one project you’re especially proud to have worked on as a PE?
Name: Robert Wilson, PE
Location: Charlotte, NC
Title/Focus Area: Senior Civil Engineer
The most challenging project in my career was the LYNX Blue Line Extension. This project had everything for an engineer leading the drainage design, including multiple railroad bores of coated 36 to 72 steel pipe, jack and tunnel installation of a 12′ x 10′ concrete box culvert, and relocating 2.5 miles of freight train track to accommodate a new 9.3-mile light rail system. The project was for Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) and extended rail service from downtown Charlotte to University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a licensed PE?
Name: Timothy Zuch, PE
Location: Buffalo, NY
Title/Focus Area: Senior Electrical Engineer
Becoming a PE lets others know you are dedicated to your trade. Commit yourself to the goal and go after it. Study hard, and if not successful the first time, try again. Ask the other PEs around you for advice on how they studied. Never give up.
