A new person has been appointed to the Florida Board of Professional Engineers (FBPE) while four members of the 11-member panel have been reappointed to their positions.
Gov. Ron DeSantis this month appointed Brock Shrader to the board that oversees an estimated 44,000 licensed engineers in Florida. Shrader is not only a trained engineer himself, he is also an attorney and is the president of the firm Wilson & Girgenti, P.A. in Orlando.
Shrader’s firm was named one of the “Best Companies” to work for in the state by Florida Trend magazine in 2022 and 2023. Shrader graduated from the George Institute of Technology where he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He went on to get his law degree from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
While the FBPE has 11 members, nine are required to be engineers while two seats on the board are designated for general laypersons who are not practicing engineers. The FBPE is tasked with “protecting the interest of public health and safety by properly regulating the practice of engineering,” according to its website.
The Florida Engineers Management Corp. (FEMC) refers cases to the FBPE for administrative review, investigation and prosecution. The FEMC is a contracted nonprofit organization under the umbrella of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (FDBPR).
DeSantis also reappointed four other FBPE members to return for another four-year term. They include:
— James Gonzales, a co-founder of Cobb & Gonzales, P.A. in Jacksonville. He’s also the licensing co-chair of the Florida Bar Real Property and Construction Law Section.
— John Pistorino, president of Pistorino & Alam Consulting Engineers Inc. in Pinecrest. Pistorino also is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Concrete Institute, the Florida Structural Engineers Association and the Florida Engineering Society.
— Denise Ramsey, vice president and chief engineer for Haskel Architects & Engineers in Jacksonville. She’s also a member of the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning and past chair of the Design-build Institute of America.
— Pankaj “P.J.” Shah, president and CEO of Cumbey & Fair Inc. in Clearwater. He’s a member of the Florida Engineering Society and the Countryside Rotary Club.
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