Ashby recognized

The American Institute of Family Law Attorneys named Scott T. Ashby, of Ashby Law in Kennewick, one of Washington’s 10 best family law attorneys for client satisfaction. AIOFLA is a third-party attorney rating organization that chooses attorneys based on client and/or peer nominations, research and independent evaluations. Selection criteria focus on attorneys who demonstrate the highest standards of client satisfaction.

Jao promoted to Director

Traci Jao has been promoted to Director of Member Services and Communications at the Tri-City Economic Development Council. Jao has been with TRIDEC for nine years as Project Manager. She has assisted with business recruitment, Smart Map Expo, FABREO Expo, web development and coordinated the Young Professionals of the Tri-Cities.

AREVA awarded three patents

Areva was awarded three patents for employee inventions that were developed to enhance the safe operations of existing nuclear reactors and to recycle a rare material from used control rod assemblies. Employees responsible for patents are Charles Graves, Dave Waskey, Ryan Welsh, Thomas Busic, Brett Matthews and Wesley Davis.

Lawenda joins NW Cancer Center, Rege promoted

Dr. Brian Lawenda, a board-certified radiation oncologist and National Director of Integrative Oncology and Cancer Survivorship has joined the Northwest Cancer Clinic in Kennewick.

Lawenda, a former U.S. Navy commander, will head the clinic as the center’s medical director, replacing Dr. Sheila Rege, who has been promoted to regional medical director.

Lawenda combines the latest cancer treatments, evidence-based complementary therapies and anti-cancer lifestyle counseling to optimize cancer outcomes, minimize treatment side effects and empower patients.

Lawenda earned his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pa. and completed his radiation oncology residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where he was chief resident.

Lawenda comes to the Tri-Cities from Las Vegas, Nev., where he was a clinical professor of internal medicine for the University of Nevada School of Medicine and clinic director of radiation oncology at 21st Century Oncology.

McDonald wins award

Barbara McDonald, director of education for Sylvan Learning of Tri-Cities, was recently recognized for her outstanding contributions with a director of the year award.

McDonald was chosen by the national Franchisee Board of Directors from hundreds across the country for the award. She is known for her dedication and commitment to excellence through the ongoing success of her families and students. She has been with Sylvan for 16 years.

Gonzales earns certification

Nick Gonzales of Bouten Construction Company has completed the requirements for the nationally-recognized Associate Designated Design-Build Professional certification. The Design-Build Institute of America awarded the status to Gonzales after he successfully completed the coursework and formal examination, which covers all aspects of design-build project delivery. A minimum of 24 hours of continuing education every two years is required to maintain the credential.

RE/MAX awarded

RE/MAX Professionals Tri-Cities has been named a ‘Miracle Office’ by the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in recognition of its continued donations to help fund pediatric medical equipment and treatments, as well as other healthcare services for children in the Tri-Cities. RE/MAX LLC presented RE/MAX Professionals with the Miracle Office award for the RE/MAX Pacific Northwest Region. The award recognizes a RE/MAX office with high contributions to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Members, officers elected

Columbia Generating Station stakeholders, representing 92 utilities in six states, elected members and officers to the power plant’s participants review board during a public meeting in March in Tulalip.

The nine review board members are: Garry Rosman, Inland Power & Light, three-year term; Paul Rogers, Kittitas County PUD, three-year term; Clay Smith, Northern Wasco County PUD, three-year term; Ray Mosbrucker, Klickitat County PUD, two-year term; Karl Denison, Mason County PUD No. 1, two-year term; Susan Thraen, Missoula Electric Cooperative, two-year term; Mark Platt, Benton REA, one-year term; Stu Nelson, Franklin County PUD, one-year term; and Steve Houston, Okanogan County PUD.

Johnson, Stephens win award

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers Christian Johnson and Elizabeth Stephens have been named winners of PNNL’s 2016 Fitzner-Eberhardt Award.

The award recognizes PNNL staff members exceptional efforts to enhance public understanding of STEM education. The award is named in honor of Dick Fitzner and Les Eberhardt, PNNL researchers who dedicated their lives to wildlife preservation and education and who died in a 1992 plane crash.

Johnson, an engineer, is recognized for his support of student math clubs, competitions and other events. He started a PNNL staff volunteer project called Team Battelle Math Mentors/Coaches to mentor and coach students in math. The project has benefitted 2,600 local students since 2009.

Stephens, a material science engineer, is recognized for her support of numerous local regional and national STEM education efforts. She serves as PNNL’s official liaison for the Yakima Valley/Tri-Cities center of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement academic preparation program for students who are under-represented in STEM fields. She also supports education programs involving computer programming, microscopes and more. Her contributions have impacted more than 1,200 students, 150 teachers and 250 principals.

G2 Construction honored

G2 Commercial Construction Inc., a general contractor in Kennewick, has been designated as a Career Builder with Butler Manufacturing. Butler provides design-build construction solutions and innovative building technology to the nonresidential market. Only Butler Builders that have demonstrated total competence in design and construction are eligible for this highlevel affiliation.

Founded in 2005, G2 Commercial Construction Inc. has 35 employees and has been an authorized Butler Builder for five years. Recent projects include the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in Hermiston, Ore. and Grimmway Enterprises Phase II Expansion in Pasco.

PNNL staff named laboratory fellows

Five staff members at Pacific Northwest National Laboratories have been appointed as Laboratory Fellows, one of PNNL’s highest ranks for its scientific and engineering staff. There are 52 current fellows, in addition to the new fellows:

Craig Aalset, National Security Directorate, recognized for his leadership as a nuclear physicist working in ultra-low background radiation detection across a range of fields, including neutrino and dark matter physics, national security applications and environmental and treaty monitoring applications. These efforts have helped establish international visibility for the PNNL Shallow Underground Laboratory.

Ljiljana Pasa-Tolic, Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, demonstrates leadership in mass spectrometry and proteomics, especially top-down proteomics, an approach developed ahead of its time. The impact of her work is evident in her international reputation and successful completion and establishment of the 21 Tesla.

Timothy Scheibe, Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, is recognized for his leadership in establishing the connection between multi-scale modeling and high-performance computing. He has an international reputation for understanding subsurface fluid flow and reactive transport modeling.

Eric Smith, National Security Directorate, is an internationally-recognized technical leader in the application of nondestructive assay techniques to challenges in nuclear fuel cycle safeguards. He has also made impactful contributions in border security and the detection of illicit nuclear trafficking.

Alexandre Tartakovsky, Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, demonstrates leadership in establishing computational Lagrangian methods for describing fluid flow. This has significantly impacted the ability to understand multi-phase flow and reactive transport, effectively merging the disciplines of geology and applied mathematics.

Godwin named executive director

Lisa Godwin is the new executive director of Habitat for Humanity for Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties.

Godwin has a degree in social work and 27 years of nonprofit and development experience. She was the director of development at Liberty Christian School for three years before joining Habitat in 2014.

Godwin replaces Rick Jansons, who resigned to run for public office.

Vause completes training

Ted Vause, a MetLife agent and part of the MetLife Premier Client Group, recently completed the company’s Advanced Strategies for Small Business Owners Institute training. This educational forum is dedicated to providing the company’s financial services representatives with the knowledge and training necessary to help serve the specific needs of small business owners at the most advanced levels. Topics include income taxation, executive benefit plans, qualified retirement plans, and advanced techniques used to transfer family businesses to the next generation.

Ayers named President, CEO

LoAnn Ayers has been chosen as President and CEO of United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties. Ayers replaces Beverly Weber, who retires July 8.

Ayers has served on the United Way board of directors for seven years, including being chair for two years. She led the organization’s strategic planning process in 2014 and was recognized as the Distinguished Volunteer of the Year in 2013. She has a Master’s degree in business administration and has lived in the Tri-Cities for 30 years.

Students receive grants

Three undergraduate students were awarded $3,000 research grants from Washington River Protection Solutions as part of the Chancellor’s Summer Scholars Program at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Daniel Cain, mentored by physics instructor Cigdem Capan, will enhance capabilities for LIGO, Hanford’s physical environmental monitoring subsystem. His tasks include mounting a half-wavelength antenna interface, mixing the antenna signal with a radiofrequency local oscillator and delivering the processing signal to the data acquisition system. He will also help upgrade LIGO’s cosmic ray detection system by designing, shipping, stuffing and testing circuit boards.

Eric Loeffler, mentored by Changki Mo, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is constructing a flight motion simulator, which combines aviation and mechatronics. He will research different methods of controlling a platform to simulate the sensation of movement and explore audio and visual stimulation through headphones and virtual reality headsets before combing his knowledge into constructing the full simulator.

Zoe Klingele, mentored by biological sciences assistant professor Jim Cooper, is researching jaw development in zebra fish. The fish is a model species used extensively for medical and developmental research. She will breed zebra fish and use high-speed video to record their feeding biomechanics before and after metamorphosis, which is the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult. Metamorphosis causes a complex change in zebra fish cranial biomechanics and Klingele will study the role of thyroid hormones in regulating this transformation.

Liang named director

Liyuan Liang, a world-class chemist, has been named as the director of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy user facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Liang comes to PNNL from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she helped set research strategy, directed investments in strategic new research areas and led large teams of scientists tackling some of the nation’s most important scientific problems.

At EMSL, she will be responsible for setting a scientific vision that attracts outstanding staff scientists and users of EMSL facilities and programs, promotes innovative research, and fosters the creation of robust scientific teams and communities.

Crume receives accreditation

Justin Crume, shredding operations manager for CI Shred, recently received the Certified Secure Destruction Specialist accreditation from the National Association for Information Destruction. This program, which NAID launched in 2010, represents the highest level of certification an individual can receive from the association. So far, only about 150 people have achieved the certification.

Brandes named president

Derrek Brandes, currently the vice president at Green River College in Auburn, has been name as the new president of Walla Walla Community College. Brandes will replace current WWCC President Steven VanAusdle, who retires this summer.

Brandes is also a former dean of career and technical education at Columbia Basin College.

Tri-Cities Community Health names new directors

Al Cordova, CEO of Tri-Cities Community Health, announced the appointment of Saul Valencia, M.D. as medical director and Caleb Ledford, ARNP, as assistant medical director of the nonprofit health clinic.

Valencia is board certified in family medicine. He received his Bachelor’s degree from WSU, his medical degree from UW, and did his family practice residency training in Yakima.

Valencia will serve in his expanded role as TCCH medical director at a time of transformational challenges facility primary care practices.

Ledford completed his nurse practitioner training at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. and worked in interventional cardiology at Swedish Heart and Vascular Institute in Seattle. He joined TCCH in 2014.