The Maryland Society of Professional Engineers (MDSPE), a chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), will present Dwight Williams with the award at a Baltimore ceremony Friday night.

"Mr. Williams has done a lot of service to the profession ... and earned the award," said MDSPE executive director Robert Mead. "Maryland has on the order of 13,000 licensed professional engineers, so this is quite an achievement."

To qualify, a candidate must be a licensed professional engineer under 35 years old. An MDSPE committee considers applications and nominations, looking at each candidate's range of both professional and community activities.

Born in the District, Williams, 32, who applied for the award, is a member of the American Nuclear Society, the American Physical Society, the American Society for Engineering Education and the NSPE, among other activities. He gives three or four weeks every year to activities with these organizations, including attending national conferences and co-authoring the standard nuclear engineering professional engineer (PE) licensure exam.

His work with the technical societies has helped to hone his leadership, professional and technical skills, he said.

"It's always good to interact with people who are progressing in the field, and at these meetings I get to do that," he said. "I can learn just talking to my colleagues about their experiences and they can learn from mine."

Williams also runs a marriage ministry with his wife of seven years, Sonja, at Laurel's Hope Christian Church, and spends time tutoring engineering students at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he is pursuing a doctorate in nuclear engineering.

He credits his mother, Sharon Musa, a retired District public school teacher who raised him and his sister as a single parent, with most of his success.

"I think her job is more impressive than mine," he said of the support she gave him growing up.

"Mom made learning fun. ... She basically kept me encouraged and enthusiastic with everything I was doing that involved learning."

Williams said since childhood, he has always had a love for physics.

He graduated in 1992 with his bachelor's, and in 1994 with his master's in nuclear engineering, both from North Carolina State University.

Williams then went to work for the Department of Energy, which had sponsored his master's degree. There, he became interested in environmental issues associated with nuclear science, such as radiation. He moved on to work for the Pacific Sierra Research Corporation, where he helped monitor radiation levels around the world to detect possible nuclear testing, in line with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

He came to the Department of Defense (DoD) in 2000, the same year he moved from Silver Spring to Laurel. From his office at the Pentagon, he provides scientific support to senior members of DoD and Congress.

"I try to turn relevant nuclear science stuff that's going on in the world into English so that they can understand enough to make a decision," he explained.

Winning the award was a humbling experience, Williams said, considering the qualifications of the other candidates.

"It's kind of like the Final Four," he said. "You know you're one of any number of qualified people, and the question is, what gets you over that hump?"

Winners of the state award are automatically forwarded to compete for the same award at the national level.

E-mail Ayesha Ahmad at

aahmad@gazette.net.