NAT 2026 Award Winners Announced
The Underground Construction Association (UCA) will present a series of awards as part of the 2026 North American Tunneling Conference (NAT 2026) program, taking center stage during the conference’s opening plenary on Tuesday, June 16 in Anaheim, CA. These awards honor outstanding individuals and project teams across the industry and represent the continuation of an annual UCA awards program tradition.
NAT 2026 (June 15-18) will bring together a domestic and international collective of over 1,200 professionals and students plus over 165 exhibitors engaged in all aspects of the tunneling and underground construction industry. It will be the largest tunneling conference held in North America in 2026.
“We are thrilled to present another class of outstanding awardees as they take center stage amongst a large contingent of their peers at NAT,” said Amanda Morgan, NAT 2026 Chair and Principal at Delve Underground. “Their remarkable achievements reflect the vitality of the industry, which is positioned to continue driving key innovations that improve quality of life on a massive scale.”
The award winners to be presented at NAT 2026 are below.
UCA Lifetime Achievement Award – Jerome P. Shaw, President, SAK LLC
The UCA Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to a professional who has made an indelible mark on the industry. Jerome P. Shaw receives the award for his outstanding contributions to the underground and tunneling industry, demonstrating innovation, leadership, and dedication throughout his career.
UCA Lifetime Achievement Award – Amanda Elioff, Sr. Vice President, National Practice Lead – Tunnels, WSP USA
Amanda Elioff receives the UCA Lifetime Achievement Award for her enduring leadership and technical excellence that has significantly advanced tunneling innovation, strengthened communities, and inspired future engineers and women throughout a distinguished career in underground construction.
UCA Lifetime Achievement Award – Thomas J. Clemens, President of North American Tunneling, DSI Underground (retired)
Thomas J. Clemens receives the UCA Lifetime Achievement Award for his enthusiasm, extensive contributions, and dedication to the underground and tunneling industry throughout his entire career.
UCA Muddy Boots Award – John Kiernan, General Superintendent, Skanska Civil Northeast
The UCA Muddy Boots Award was created to recognize field supervisors able to implement efficient work operations, mentor future leaders, provide high quality work, and demonstrate a record of fostering a strong safety culture. This year, John Kiernan receives the award for his dedication in leading his miners safely though all types of ground with pride and confidence.
UCA Outstanding Educator Award – Tom Iseley, Professor of Engineering Practice, Purdue University
The UCA Outstanding Educator Award is presented to Tom Iseley for his tireless dedication as a teacher, researcher and practitioner who has been an advocate of and made significant contributions to the tunneling and underground industry throughout his entire career.
UCA Person of the Year – Moussa Wone, Chief Engineer & Vice President, DC Water
For his significant contributions and leadership in advancing the owners’ effective participation in furthering fairness among contracting parties during the construction of tunnels and underground facilities, Moussa Wone is honored as the UCA Person of the Year.
UCA Young Member Award – Jack Lawrence, Tunnel Engineer, HNTB
Jack Lawrence is recognized with the UCA Young Member Award for implementing transformative leadership, innovative use of AI, and providing lasting impact on the UCA community.
UCA Project of the Year $100 – $500M – Fermi Forward Discovery Group (FFDG), Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility Project
The Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility Project will provide the space, infrastructure and particle beam for DUNE, an experiment focused on the study of elusive particles known as neutrinos. DUNE represents the largest physics experiment in U.S. history. The award recognizes contributions from Fermi Forward Discovery Group (FFDG), Arup, Delve Underground, Kiewit Alberici JV, and Thyssen Mining Group.
UCA Project of the Year Less than $100M – Merco Inc., Legislative Plaza Renovations Project
Skanska USA Building selected Merco for the demolition of the Motlow Tunnel, part of Skanska’s contract to renovate and rebuild the Legislative Plaza and War Memorial Building in Nashville, TN. Given the difficulty of using traditional mechanical excavation techniques, Merco designed and employed precision blasting utilizing Dyno Nobel’s novel Digishot digital detonation system. Merco’s skillful implementation of the digital detonation system enabled the client to meet their aggressive schedule requirements safely and without incident.
UCA Technical Innovation Award – Arup, Loupe360 and Automated Tunnel Inspection Innovation
Arup, in partnership with Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario (IO), has developed an automated tunnel inspection solution that transforms how inspections are delivered on major infrastructure projects. Deployed on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, the system significantly improves safety and quality by reducing the need for inspectors to enter hazardous environments during construction and provides advanced data analytics for close out inspection and agreement. Using panoramic camera arrays mounted on operational vehicles, high resolution tunnel imagery is captured continuously and reviewed remotely within Loupe360, Arup’s cloud based digital inspection platform.
For more details regarding NAT, visit natconference.org.
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