William "Bill" L. Hale was recently appointed by TxDOT's Executive Director Mike Behrens as the agency's Dallas district engineer. Hale will oversee the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the transportation system in the seven-county Dallas district. Hale previously served as district engineer for Abilene, a position he held since 1999.

Hale began his career with TxDot in the Dallas District in 1983 as a resident engineer in training for the Ellis County area office. In 1992, he was promoted to area engineer in the Southeast Dallas County area office.

He received his graduate degree from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1989, where he taught a graduate-level course in pavement design for six years as an adjunct professor.

David B. Casteel was also recently appointed by TxDOT's Executive Director Mike Behrens. Casteel will serve as the agency's San Antonio district engineer.

Norman Lee, a graduate of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, was selected as a finalist in the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition in New York City. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation chose eight designs as finalists from 5,201 submitted entries, representing 13,683 people and 63 countries.

Titled "Votives in Suspension," Lee's memorial-which he co-created along with design partner Michael Lewis-uses panels engraved with the names of victims to line the walls of a set of subterranean rooms in which sets of candles, symbolizing the victims, are suspended from the ceiling on special cables. The distance of each candle from the ceiling corresponds with the victim's age at the time of his or her death, creating an "irregular field of light that both breaks apart into fragments and coalesces as an entirety."

After graduating from the Department of Art and Art History in August 2000 with a Master of Arts degree in Art Education, Lee took a job with Southwest Museum Services, a Houston firm specializing in the design and construction of museum exhibits.

Craig Browning has been named business development manager of Browning Construction Company. Prior to joining Browning, he was a project manager with J.C. Evans Construction and a business analyst with Motorola Inc., in Austin.

Browning is a cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University where he earned a B.E. in civil engineering. He also received an M.B.A. from the University of Texas. Last year Rotary International selected Browning to join the Rotary Group Study Exchange for Professionals in Brazil.

Kirk A. Marchand also recently joined Walter P. Moore as principal and director of secure design services.

A graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, Marchand is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Texas and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, ASTM International and the American Concrete Institute. Marchand holds five patents related to explosive effects and vehicle impact.

With more than 24 years in fields related to the response of structures and mechanical systems to severe transient loads, Marchland's expertise includes explosives and ballistics testing, vehicle impact testing and analysis and design of structures to resist blast and impact. Recent projects conducted and supervised by Marchand include terrorist vulnerability assessments, blast-loaded glass research, full-scale structural tests and laser threat and hazard research.

Lawrence G. Griffis, president of Walter P. Moore's Structures Division, was recently presented with the Structural Engineers Association of Texas prestigious Wilbur C. Schoeller Award.

Named in honor of a founding member of SEAoT, the award is given to individuals in recognition of specific achievement or attainment of noteworthy prominence in the structural engineering profession.

Jeff E. Ross has assumed the responsibility of principal in charge at the Houston office of Pate Engineers, Inc. Mr. Ross's most recent responsibilities included corporate business development and marketing of Pate Engineers. As senior vice president of corporate development and marketing he was responsible for the overall direction of business development and marketing for the firm.

Randolph V. Schulze, a principal of Walter P. Moore and managing director, Houston Traffic Engineering Services, was elected secretary-treasurer of the Houston Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers for 2004. TexITE is a professional organization of individuals employed in the field of transportation or pursuing study therein, who share a common interest in improving the quality of the surface transportation system in Texas.