2021-2022 Holston Branch Officers
President | Richard D. Beck Jr. | P.E.
Firm: Eastman
Mr. Richard Beck earned a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where he served as the ASCE UTK Chapter Recording Secretary from 2009 – 2010. He is licensed as a professional engineer in 10 states including Tennessee. Mr. Beck has been practicing civil/structural engineering at Eastman for 9 years. The first 6 years in Plant Engineering providing structural support for the Kingsport, TN site. Then 3 years supporting other Eastman chemical manufacturing sites across the globe as part of the Global Engineering Service Center focusing on structural design, standards, and corporate facility siting. He is currently the Group Leader of the Utilities and Civil/Structural/Architectural teams in Plant Engineering at the Kingsport, TN site. Richard served as the Vice President of the ASCE Holston Branch from 2018 – 2020 and has been president since 2020.
Richard has been involved with the Holston Branch since 2012. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, DIY projects and spending time with family.
Vice President | Lauren Meffe | E.I.T.
Firm: Eastman
Ms. Lauren Meffe graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 2020 where she earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering. She has passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and has the goal to become a licensed professional engineer. Throughout college, Lauren was an active member in UT’s ASCE student chapter and served as the chapter’s corresponding secretary from 2018 – 2019. In 2019, she was co-captain for UT’s Shake It Off competition for the 2019 Southeast Student conference. Ms. Meffe works at Eastman full-time as a civil engineer where she provides civil/structural plant engineering support for the Kingsport, TN site. She has served as the Vice President for the ASCE Holston Branch since 2020.
Secretary | Mohammad “Moin” Uddin | Ph. D., P.E.
Firm: East Tennessee State University
Dr. Uddin is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering, Engineering Technology, and Surveying at East Tennessee State University. He holds a joint appointment as an Associate Professor of Engineering and Engineering Technology and as the Director of TTU-ETSU Joint Engineering Program. He has served the students and the whole civil engineering profession through excellence in teaching, research, and service. He is a proponent of project-based learning and developed innovative teaching strategies to engage his students in solving real-world problems and prepare them with skills and knowledge that industry requires.
Moin is active in research and scholarship. He has been awarded grants from National Science Foundation, Tennessee Department of Transportation, DENSO and ASEE and several other organizations for a total of more than $2 million. His current research interest focuses on rural community engagement for transportation projects, road user cost, sustainable design and construction for knowledge-based decision making, and engineering education excellence. He also contributed to data analysis methods and cost-effective practices of highway construction quality assurance program. He is dedicated to serve his profession and the community. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Engineering Technology and a member of ASCE, ASEE, TRB and CRC. He is active with ASEE civil engineering division and served as program chair for CIEC in 2017 and 2018. He received outstanding researcher award, outstanding service award and sustainability leadership award from his college.
As an engineering educator, Moin has a passion to elevate the Civil Engineering profession. He has served as the Secretary of the ASCE Holston Branch since 2020. As the secretary of the branch his goal is to organize more member-focused activities.
Treasurer | Brian Johnson | P.E.
Firm: WSP
Mr. Johnson is a project manager and senior design engineer with over 28 years of experience in the transportation field working as a consultant for regional state transportation departments and local municipalities. He has accumulated vast experience in transportation design including surveying, planning studies, conceptual designs, preliminary, right-of-way, and construction plans, and estimates. He also led the development of construction engineering and inspection services for TDOT in northeast Tennessee at a previous employer. Mr. Johnson has been active in ASCE since his days at the University of Kentucky and participating with the concrete canoe team. He has been a Holston Branch officer for many years and served as a section officer and the 2007/2008 section president. In his spare time Mr. Johnson enjoys volunteering with the Boy Scouts of America and assisting with the Bristol, TN High School soccer team.
Program Committee Chair | Mohammad “Moe” Al Saji | Ph. D., P.E.
Firm: Geosyntec
Moe is a civil engineer with a B.S. from the University of Baghdad, M.S. from Trinity College Dublin and Ph.D. from University College Dublin. Moe is a Chartered and joined Geosyntec in 2019 in their Johnson City office. He is currently serving as a dam safety and instrumentation engineer for the remediation efforts of TVA’s Boone Dam. Prior to moving to Tennessee, Moe supported the rehabilitation of water infrastructure for Irish Water. He has also supported projects including hydrogeological modelling, slope stabilization design, and erosion and embankment spillway overtopping analysis.
He moved to Johnson City in the fall of 2019 and has grown to love the Tri-Cities area. Moe is interested in ways to give back to the community and is interested in supporting the leadership of the ASCE Holston Branch as they increase the value of local membership through events, talks, meetings, and opportunities. He is interested in promoting local ASCE membership, assisting with planning and organization of our local chapter’s events, and helping to raise community awareness of the value that civil engineers offer society.