Eric Kong Receives WEAT Emerging Leader Award
Eric Kong, Treatment, Transmission, and Utilities, San Antonio, recently received the Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT) 2023 Emerging Leader Award.
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The Emerging Leader Award is presented to a young WEAT member who exemplifies their commitment to the organization with their exceptional services, volunteer work, association involvement and contributions. Eric is the fifth Freese and Nichols employee to be named Emerging Leader, joining Allison Hage in 2020, Jason Crawley in 2014, Erin Flanagan in 2012 and Trooper Smith in 2009.
Eric has been an active member of the South Texas Chapter of the Texas Section of the American Water Works Association (TAWWA) and WEAT since 2018. In 2019, he received two TAWWA scholarships for his graduate studies while attending the University of Texas – Austin. He has volunteered his time, reinstalled the local chapter’s inactive newsletter, and has coordinated many events for the Young Professional (YP) chapter. In 2022, he chaired and co-chaired YP events and chaired the PM seminar getting the YPs involved with the PMs.
Eric currently serves as the San Antonio Section WEAT Young Professional Representative to the State and is devoted to developing the YP community through engagements and advocating growth. He continues to demonstrate his commitment to the organization through his contributions while pursuing his professional goals.
While at Freese and Nichols, Eric has served as a Project Manager on three projects and as an Assistant Project Manager and/or Project Engineer on 18 projects, including the award-winning project Martinez IV WWTP and Wastewater Collection System for the San Antonio River Authority. He is an Envision Sustainability Professional and earned his Professional Engineering License in 2022. He received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2016 and received his Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from UT-Austin in 2021.
“Eric does a fantastic job following up on his commitments for TAWWA/WEAT, his list of WEAT related activities is incredibly impressive,” wrote Erin Mills, his supervisor, in nominating Eric for the award. “He takes his role seriously and leads by example, demonstrating his passion for the industry by consistently presenting at conferences and participating in local educational outreach.”
Eric received the award at the Texas Water 2023 Awards Ceremony on April 12.