COE Alum Named US Army 412th Engineer Command Engineer 2007

February 22, 2007

LSU Alumnus, Major Clarence Barton “Bart” Kemper, III P.E., was recently chosen US Army, 412th Engineer Command Engineer of the Year.  He was honored at the Federal Engineer of the Year Awards ceremony on February 22, 2007.  He was also selected as one of the Top Ten finalists for the Federal Engineer of the Year Award for his achievements in engineering design, management, and ethics.

Bart Kemper was the primary driver behind the first Louisiana Joint Engineering Societies Conference with the goal of broadening knowledge throughout the engineering community. In his early work, he developed key failure analysis techniques for petrochemical equipment.  Later, he started his own international firm, Kemper Engineering Services, LLC.

In 2004 he developed designs and procedures for a strategic military pipeline system for Korea.  In 2005, Kemper was the lead mechanical, structural, and security engineer for the only corps-level engineer brigade in Iraq, where he worked with both Coalition forces and Iraq ministries.  His work included schools, civilian water treatment plants, military-civilian water supply systems, equipment troubleshooting, and infrastructure assessment.  Despite repeated enemy engagements, he gathered the data needed for detailed technical assessments and construction estimates resulting in a multi-million dollar military construction project approved by Congress.  His expertise in blast, ballistics, and structures led to developing an innovative barrier design using locally available material.

Major Kemper is an active member of numerous engineering societies and was past president of the Baton Rouge Chapter of the Louisiana Engineering Society.  He has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including the Louisiana Engineering Society Young Engineer Award, Baton Rouge Chapter  2000; the Meritorious Service Medal, US Army, 2003, for technical engineering and engineering management in support of operations in the Balkans, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom 1; and  the Bronze Star, US Army, 2006, for technical engineering and engineering management in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom while stationed in Balad, Iraq 2005-2006 and supporting bases, facilities, and civilian sites throughout Iraq.

Article by Brenda Tate, LSU College of Engineering, 225-578-4986, btate8@lsu.edu.

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