According to the National Society for Professional Engineers (NPSE), the first professional engineering license was issued to Charles Bellamy in Wyoming on August 8, 1907. Since that time, licensure has expanded and professional engineers across the U.S. have made the commitment to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. NSPE is celebrating licensed professional engineers with the seventh annual Professional Engineers Day on Wednesday, August 3, 2022. Cordoba Corporation is pleased to join the NPSE to raise awareness about what it means to be a PE, recognize licensed PEs, and show appreciation for the work they do each and every day.
Today, on Professional Engineers Day – #LicensedPEday we are thrilled to acknowledge four licensed Professional Engineers from Cordoba Corporation’s growing team of engineers across the company who have embraced our culture of “Making a Difference” for our clients and communities.
Madeline Knipfing, PE has 12 years of diverse utility experience managing teams and leading engineering and design efforts for utility distribution projects and programs. These projects and programs required her to develop methods, processes, and tools to identify, analyze, and plan for risks and leverage opportunities in managing scope, schedule, and budget to optimize performance and outcomes. She has a consistent and proven track record of being an effective leader of both people and processes to maximize performance and profitability.
Madeline is currently serving as a Project Manager at Cordoba Corporation on SDG&E’s Drone Investigation Assessment and Repair (DIAR) Program for the Owner’s Engineering team, working to deliver quality design packages. Prior to joining Cordoba Corporation, Madeline worked at SDG&E for 10 years serving in various Project Engineer, Project Manager and Supervisor positions on SDG&E’s ESH Program, Pole Risk Mitigation & Engineering (PRiME) Program, PRiME Risk Model Program, Steel Pole Inspection Program, and Gas Distribution Compliance Management Program.
Madeline earned her B.S. in Civil Engineering at San Francisco State University and her B.S. in Business Marketing at San Diego State University. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in California and is currently working on her Project Management Professional certification.
Jose Rodriguez is a Civil Engineer on Cordoba’s team supporting the advanced conceptual engineering (ACE) for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (Metro) Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2.
Jose has over 15 years of experience in civil/structural design and QA/QC work for infrastructure projects, and he is well versed in coordinating projects among Engineering Managers, Project Engineers, Designers, and CADD Drafters.
Jose has worked as a Project Engineer, helping to manage a team of drafters, designers, and engineers, and helped oversee daily operations of the design team, including preparing designs and plans for roadway infrastructure utilizing applicable design standards including AASHTO, ACI, AREMA, ASTM, Caltrans standards, and LA City standards. Jose has a proven understanding of Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) as it relates to infrastructure projects and has helped ensure designs and plans meet project specifications and minimizing impacts to project schedules.
Jose is a licensed Professional Engineer in California. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from California State University, Northridge. In addition, Jose has completed graduate level coursework in Structural Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Daniel Rydberg, PE is a Senior Project Manager/Engineer in Cordoba Corporation’s Water Infrastructure Sector. With over 31 years of experience in public works, governance, business and leadership, Daniel brings significant expertise to Cordoba Corporation.
Daniel spent over 16 years in various positions at City of Oxnard’s Public Works Department, serving most recently as Public Works Director. He led a full-service Public Works Department including Water, Wastewater, Solid Waste, Fleet, Facilities, Parks, Streets and Engineering divisions.
Other positions Daniel held at the City of Oxnard include Interim Utilities Director, Capital Projects Manager, Streets and Waterways Superintendent, Acting Solid Waste Superintendent and Senior Civil Engineer. He managed the development of the City’s first Integrated Water Resources Master Plan and Public Works Integrated Master Plan.
Daniel also managed the planning, engineering, design, inspection, and construction management of the Public Works Department capital improvement project (CIP) program. Significant completed projects include: $130 million Groundwater Recovery, Enhancement, and Treatment (GREAT) Program including a $55 million Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF); $105 million Redwood Trunk Sewer and Headworks; and a $120 million street resurfacing program.
Daniel’s experience includes civil service for the US Navy as a Mechanical Engineer and as a Planning Division Director. In addition, his service to our country includes 30 years as an Army Corps of Engineers Officer in the Army National Guard.
Daniel is licensed as both a Professional Civil Engineer and a Professional Mechanical Engineer in California. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and his M.S. in Mechanical and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Jack Zhang, PE is a Mechanical/Pipeline engineer with 20+ years of experience in pipeline and surface production projects, including natural gas and hydrocarbon liquid pipelines, natural gas processing, metering, compressor facilities and O&G production. He has extensive experience with detailed engineering design for pipelines and oil/gas production facilities including pipeline network simulation, P&ID development, and equipment evaluation and sizing, including pumps, compressors, heat exchangers, storage tanks, filter separator, and other equipment and associated instrumentation.
Jack has an in-depth knowledge of pipeline industry codes including ASME 31.3, ASME 31.8, ASME 31.4, MSS-SP 44, MSS-SP 75, NACE, Gas Engineering Codes, NEC, 49 CFR, API standards, Sempra gas standards and PG&E gas standards.
During his career at Cordoba Corporation, Jack has supported various projects and programs for SoCalGas, including the Pipeline Safety Enhancement Plan (PSEP), mainline valve and compressor station projects. His experience includes engineering and design support, piping design, and pipeline related calculations, such as piping system hydraulics, horizontal directional drilling, jack & bore, and pipeline stress analysis. He has conducted closeout and quality control for projects where his services included collecting piping material and hydrotest information for the SoCalGas pipeline database. In addition, his work has included performing pipeline stress calculations and material selections as required by design and field engineering to verify design requirements.
Jack earned his M.S. in Electrical Engineering and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University. He is a licensed Mechanical Engineer and Chemical Engineer in California.
