Engineering first caught the eye of Scott Elmer (1997 BSCE) as a youth growing up on the banks of Louisiana’s Red River.
It was here, father by his side, Elmer would make regular visits to the site of a two-year channelization project on the river spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“My father made friends with some of the guys on the project,” Elmer recalled. ”We would make bi-weekly visits there to see its progress.”
Seeing that project evolve is what first peeked Elmer’s interest in the engineering field, where he would later have great success.
The 41-year old is now the city engineer and director of public works in Missouri City, who earlier this month was named a recipient of the American Public Works Association’s Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year award.
“It is quite an honor, in the public works profession, to be selected for this award,” he said of the national accolade, presented yearly to individuals demonstrating excellent career service in the profession of public works. “It’s really touching that I’d be chosen.”
Though Elmer was inspired early on by engineering he didn’t pursue it as a career until a few years after graduating from Northeast Louisiana University in 1988, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
Elmer admitted the requirements for an engineering degree had been a bit intimidating. The main recipe—a heavy dose of math—a subject with which Elmer struggled.
However, on his wife’s advice, Elmer set out to conquer his fear and live his dream by enrolling at University of Houston the summer of 1992. His first course was remedial college algebra.
“Math. I was never fond of that subject,” he recalled. “I must have gotten one multiplication table wrong as a kid and it scarred me for life.”
But he didn’t let his fear of math smother his dreams of becoming an engineer. He offered this advice to those struggling with a similar problem.
“I recognize math is a tool,” he said. “It’s a tool I needed to learn, and one I’ve learned to use. It is no different from a computer, bulldozer or survey instrument.”
His most recent award is not the first honor for the UH alumnus. In 2000, Elmer was presented the National Emerging Leader in Public Works by the American Public Works Association and the Texas Public Works Leader of the Year Award in 2002, in addition, he received the Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2001 by the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. Last year, he was a recipient of both the Texas Public Works Association Project of the Year in the category of disaster and emergency construction/repair and the Texas Consulting Engineering Council Engineering Excellence Silver Medal for Projects.
On August 18, Elmer will officially accept his award from the American Public Works Association at the Public Works Congress and Exposition in New Orleans. He will be honored locally for the award in May.