Alumnus Received Modern-Day Technology Leader Award
Walters Recognized at 2024 Black Engineer of the Year Awards
AAMU alumnus Curtney Walters, an engineer with the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently received a Modern-Day Technology Leader Award at the 2024 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) in Baltimore.
The Modern-day Technology Leader Award is part of the BEYA STEM Outstanding Achievement Award category for individuals in the workforce.
Walters, a project engineer supporting Defense Logistics Agency fuels storage and infrastructure, ensures proper operations and maintenance are performed on Department of Defense fuels systems in support of national defense and security.
“It was an incredibly, humbling moment to receive this award,” says Walters. “Witnessing the fruits of my labor publicly acknowledged in front of hundreds of industry professionals, offered an indescribable sense of accomplishment, not just as an employee but as a leader.”
A native of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Walters earned his civil engineering degree at Alabama A&M University in 2005 and joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), where he has worked for 18 years. Starting as a project engineer, he managed various construction projects at the Redstone Arsenal construction office for the Mobile District Office.
In 2019, Walters moved to a technical advisor role at the USACE Huntsville Center for the Recurring Maintenance and Minor Repair program. This critical role involves maintaining the Defense Logistic Agency's fuel storage infrastructure globally. His duties include reviewing documents, overseeing repair programs, and managing status meetings across sites from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Washington State. Although originally trained in civil engineering, his current role requires knowledge of electrical and mechanical systems, demonstrating his ability to learn and adapt.
Walters was nominated for the BEYA award by his supervisor, Chad House, who serves as the Chief of the Facilities & Systems Sustainment Branch at the Huntsville Center Engineering Directorate.
“Additionally, my nomination received backing from Wade Doss, the Chief of the Huntsville Center Engineering Directorate, along with the executive leadership of the Center,” he said. “It's an experience any employee would cherish, realizing your persistent hard work is observed, and being acknowledged for your contributions to both the team, and ultimately, the country.”
Walters says his fascination with how things work led him to civil engineering at AAMU, a field that bridges his love for problem-solving with his desire to build and improve our physical environment.
“I keep in contact with some of my former colleagues, those who were in the ‘battle’ alongside me,” says Walters. “We shared many late nights hammering out senior project reports, building/rowing the ASCE Concrete Canoe and wrestling with tricky Steel Structural Analysis problems. These experiences forged strong bonds between us. Additionally, I'm involved with the AAMU Civil Engineering Advisory Board, which brings me back to campus every semester to support current students. Walking through the corridors of the Arthur J. Bond Engineering Building, I find myself swept up in a wave of nostalgia, reliving those challenging yet rewarding days on The Hill.”