Daris Cook ’04 Alumnus Named Naval Engineer of the Year in Hawaii

A mere five years after graduating from Loyola Marymount University, Daris Cook received the 2009 Engineer of the Year Award from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where he has worked since 2004. Cook, who graduated in 2004 with a B.A. in civil engineering, managed a series of technically challenging, high-visibility projects at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard worth more than $20 million, making him one of the top-performing engineers in NAVFAC this past year. He won the award for engineers under 36 years of age. He credits part of his success to the faculty at LMU’s Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering for providing a strong foundation in his field. “At LMU, all of my civil engineering professors were excellent. They get to know you on a personal level, which facilitates higher learning,” said Cook. “The education was topnotch and almost every class had a team project. In my current position, all my projects require teamwork and I learned that at LMU.” Cook also earned a graduate degree from Chaminade University in Honolulu. In addition, to his education, Cook said his teammates and supervisors on the job have helped him succeed. “I am fortunate to have co-workers and managers who are very talented, extremely knowledgeable and highly dedicated. Without them, this award would not have been possible because everything I learned about doing this job successfully came from them. I do not see or feel that this is an individual award.”