West Construction Views | Engineering News-Record

ENR West is happy to announce the area’s three Legacy Award winners for 2026: Randy Iwasaki, Iwasaki Consulting Companies; John Helminski, WSP; and David Baska, Terracon. The three symbolize the Northern California, Southern California and Northwest sub-regions of ENR West, respectively.

The Legacy Awards program acknowledges trade veterans with a few years of expertise and lengthy lists of contributions to their occupation and neighborhood. Greater than a dozen people have been submitted as nominees to ENR West. In selecting this 12 months’s winner, ENR’s regional editors weighed a number of standards, together with every nominee’s historical past of innovation, profession highlights and engagement throughout the trade and the communities they serve.

Northern California Sub-region

Randy Iwasaki

President & CEO, Iwasaki Consulting Companies

Walnut Creek, Calif.

Iwasaki held a number of management roles at Caltrans throughout which era he directed the $8.7 billion seismic retrofit of California’s toll bridges and main initiatives such because the Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore, the Bay Bridge East Span, and State Route 4 growth. Iwasaki pioneered innovation by introducing North America’s first Stage 3 autonomous shuttles and securing their federal approvals. As govt director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, he developed GoMentum Station—the nation’s largest autonomous car testing website—and launched drone-based development verification. After retiring from public service, he joined AWS as State & Native Authorities Transportation Chief, advising businesses nationwide on data-driven, AI-enabled, and digitally transformative transportation options.

Southern California Sub-region

John Helminski

Senior Vice President Water Assets, WSP

San Diego

Helminski has spent greater than 40 years shaping California’s water infrastructure by means of management in development, water, vitality, and sustainability. Starting with San Diego’s Clear Water Program within the Nineties, he managed main infrastructure upgrades, together with pump station and pipeline initiatives. As the town’s Renewable Vitality Program Supervisor in 2001, he led two pioneering photo voltaic installations—saving greater than $1 million yearly—and helped launch a few of the nation’s first Energy Buy Agreements. A founding member of the U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council’s San Diego Chapter, he created the town’s first sustainability workplace and LEED Silver constructing coverage. Helminski later guided the $1.5 billion Pure Water San Diego initiative, recycling 30 million gallons of wastewater each day and influencing statewide water reuse laws by means of regional collaboration.

Northwest Sub-region

David Baska

Senior Guide, Terracon

Mountlake Terrace, Wash.

Baska’s experience spans seismic hazard and liquefaction analyses, soil-structure interplay, and resilient structural design. Baska co-authored the NRCS Seismic Evaluation Guide for Dams, writing most of its chapters. His numerous venture portfolio consists of bridge design within the New Madrid Seismic Zone, seismic retrofits in Oregon and Vermont, and repair on Seattle’s SR-99 Alaskan Manner Viaduct Professional Panel. He has additionally utilized performance-based design to high-rises resembling Seattle’s 121 Boren and Las Vegas’s World Jewellery Middle, in addition to important services like hospitals and emergency facilities. His post-earthquake reconnaissance in Chile and New Zealand superior seismic engineering practices worldwide.

To learn extra concerning the achievements of Kaneshige, McConahey and Kopczynski, try the March 2, 2026 print subject of ENR West.

Here’s a listing of the prior recipients of the Legacy Awards from every sub-region of ENR West: