Engineer turned business leader earns professional recognition for professional and community-minded efforts

Kevin T. Campbell '89G '94 MBA was named 2016 Engineer of the Year by the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers (PSPE). The honor was bestowed during PSPE's annual conference in late September, and is based on criteria including professional achievement as well as civic, political, engineering and educational contributions.

Campbell, who has a 32-year career in engineering, is president and chief operating officer of Barry Isett & Associates (BIA), a multi-discipline engineering firm headquartered in Allentown, PA.

Prior to joining BIA in 2005, he previously worked as an engineer in the semiconductor industry, and built his executive career starting with positions with Agere Systems/Lucent/AT&T and Tri-Quint Optoelectronics.

"When I met Barry, [Isett, BIA founder], he said, 'I'm looking for an engineer who knows how to run a business.'"

This state award recognizes that engineers can be leaders, he added. It's a notion that's not commonly associated with the role.

Kevin is most proud of the fact that the company has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Lehigh Valley four years in a row. In 2015, BIA was named as a finalist for Societas Award for Responsible Corporate Conduct, presented by the Forum for Ethics in the Workplace. The annual award celebrates a company in Eastern Pennsylvania that demonstrates responsible corporate conduct in terms of legal compliance, corporate and individual accountability, commitment to stakeholders and social responsibility.

As the immediate past president of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of PSPE, he has coordinated the Lehigh Valley MathCounts program since 2010 and was the co-coordinator of the 2016 statewide competition. MathCounts is a nationwide initiative promoted by the National Society of Professional Engineers to encourage math literacy among middle school students.

The former chair of the Lehigh Valley Steering committee of the Delaware Lehigh Valley Green Building Council, Kevin has served on the board of Lehigh Economic Assistance Program, and on the [Bethlehem, PA] MusikFest talent selection committee and is the current treasurer of the American Wine Society – Lehigh Valley Chapter.

A graduate of Lehigh University, Campbell earned a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in electrical engineering. He previously attended Penn State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering.

Lehigh electrical and engineering alumnus Kevin T. Campell '89G, '94MBA, is president and COO of Allentown, PA.-based multi-discipline engineering firm Barry Isett & Associates.