The State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame inducted five individuals, including three Auburn alumni, and honored a corporation during a February ceremony in Montgomery. These alumni have made, and continue to make, significant contributions to the advancement of engineering and technology, leading to an enhanced economic, cultural and political future for the state and nation.
Bill L. Harbert, ’48 civil engineering, built structures across the globe and at home in Alabama, earning a reputation as a premier builder entrusted with projects that changed the skyline and economies of the world throughout his career.
Along with his legacy of impressive and expansive structures and developments, he founded what became B.L. Harbert International Construction, a Birmingham-based construction company that continues to shape the world.
Although his studies at Auburn were interrupted by service in the Army during World War II, he graduated in 1948 and he and his brother, John M. Harbert Jr., began careers as civil engineers. In 1949, the brothers and friend Ed Dixon formed Harbert Construction Corp. in Birmingham. Harbert served as executive vice president and managed the company’s construction operations, both domestically and internationally. In Alabama, he oversaw the construction of the bulk of the modern Birmingham skyline with such projects as AmSouth Harbert Plaza and SouthTrust Tower. He was also headed the Red Mountain Expressway, Riverchase Galleria and Hoover Met Stadium projects. In Mobile, the company completed the Mobile Convention Center.
Harbert’s international work included numerous U.S. embassies, and from 1979-90, he served as the chief operating officer of Harbert International Inc., performing projects in South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In all, he worked in 33 countries on 50 projects.
In 1991, he bought the Harbert Corp.’s international operations, renaming it Bill Harbert International Construction Inc. He served as chairman and CEO until his retirement in 2000. The company continues in Birmingham with his son, Billy, at the helm. It continues to have an international and domestic presence.
Harbert, who passed away in 2010, was active in many professional societies and his community, including roles as president of the Pipe Line Contractors Association and member of the Construction Industry President’s Forum. He held position of director, first and second vice president with the International Pipe Line Contractors Association.
He was also director of the Birmingham Metropolitan Development Board, as well as the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce.
He is a 2000 inductee into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Associated General Contractors Construction Hall of Fame in 2007.
Paula Martese Marino, ’92 and ’95 electrical engineering, has built a reputation in the energy and engineering communities for more than 23 years, currently overseeing more than $3 billion in construction projects and actively helping to develop young engineers.
As executive vice president of Southern Company’s engineering and construction services organization, Marino leads approximately 1,400 individuals responsible for developing new generation and environmental strategy, executing major project design and construction and supporting the operation and maintenance of the generating fleet.
Marino joined Southern Company in 1993 as a distribution engineer for Alabama Power Co. She was promoted to senior engineer for the transmission customer service department before transitioning to Southern Company Services in 2000, where she was named assistant to the president of Southern Company Generation and Energy Marketing. In this role she was a key leader in forming Southern Power Co. and managed the chief production officer’s budget.
In 2001, she became planning and engineering services manager for engineering and construction services, where she developed a new organization to manage the business side of engineering. She was then named environmental and retrofit projects manager in 2002, where she managed a project portfolio totaling $180 million. In 2004, she served as the design general manager and restructured the organization of 560 employees to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.
She transitioned to Southern Nuclear Co. in 2009, where she was promoted to vice president of engineering. In this role, she provided strategic direction for engineering, project management, supply chain, nuclear fuel, licensing and risk-informed engineering functions.
Marino returned to Southern Company Services in 2013 as senior vice president of engineering and construction services before taking on her current role in 2014.
She is an advocate for engineering education, especially as a voice for women pursuing engineering. She serves on Auburn University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Council and on Auburn University’s Alumni Engineering Council, where she serves as the Public Relations Committee vice chair. Marino is a member of the Center for Energy Workforce Development board of directors, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Advisory Board and Auburn Engineering’s 100+ Women Strong program, in addition to participating in numerous committees and initiatives inside and outside of Southern Co.
She has also served on the electrical engineering advisory boards for Tuskegee University and Alabama. She has mentored young engineers through such initiatives as iCan, Southern Nuclear North American Young Generation in Nuclear, Society of Women Engineers and Women in Generation, which she created.
Marino is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Auburn University ECE Industrial Advisory Board Outstanding Alumni Award in 2016, the Engineering Council of Birmingham’s Leadership Award in 2015 and as its Engineer of the Year in 2012.
Todd May, ’90 materials engineering, has led a career dedicated to exploring space, working on two of the highest profile space projects of his generation, along the way becoming the most senior NASA official in Alabama.
May is director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, managing a broad spectrum of human spaceflight, science and technology development missions contributing to the nation’s space program.
He joined NASA at Marshall as an engineer in the Materials and Processes Laboratory. Four years later, he was deputy program manager of the Russian Integration Office for the International Space Station at Johnson Space Center in Houston and subsequently given the task of integrating, launching and commissioning the ISS Quest airlock module.
After demonstrating both engineering and management success on the ISS, May led development of several high-visibility scientific experiments at NASA. He joined the Gravity Probe B mission to test Einstein’s general theory of relativity. With a successful launch, he moved on to head the Discovery and New Frontiers Science Program, with the responsibility for Space Solar Science experiments throughout NASA and the scientific community. He went on to work as associate manager for the Constellation Program and was also responsible for non-launch vehicle programs at Marshall.
His success led him to become deputy associate administrator at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., from 2007-08. There, he oversaw the science mission directorate and was responsible for a $5 billion portfolio of robotic programs and projects, including more than 100 spacecraft at various development stages. He returned to Marshall as technical associate director to ensure all center activities, processes and policies were consistent with the nation’s space exploration policy.
In 2011, May was tapped to be the program manager of the Space Launch System, the nation’s ambitious project to build the world’s most powerful rocket to carry astronauts on deep space missions to an asteroid and, ultimately, Mars.
May was selected as deputy director of Marshall in 2015 before being appointed as director of the center in early 2016. He heads one of the NASA’s largest field installations with close to a $2.5 billion budget and nearly 6,000 civil service and contractor employees in and around Marshall, as well as those at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
He has received numerous awards for his professional achievements, including the 2016 AIAA Von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management, the Exceptional Achievement Medal, the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, the Outstanding Leadership Medal and the John W. Hager Award. He has also been honored as a Distinguished Auburn Engineer by the by Auburn University College of Engineering.
