Mililani’s Murakami Named Hawaii’s Best Civilian Engineer

By Denise Emsley

A Mililani resident was recognized Nov. 19 as the Naval Facilities Engineering Command’s (NAVFAC) Civilian Engineer of the Year. Cey Murakami joined Lt. Steven Ferrara in being recognized.

“Each year, we canvas our phenomenal engineering workforce to acknowledge two of the many who have made significant contributions to our com mand, the Navy and the Marine Corps in Hawaii,” said NAVFAC Hawaii commanding officer Capt. Dean Tufts. “I am proud to say that we are never at a loss for exceptional candidates, and Cey and Steve represent the absolute best we have as our 2015 Engineers of the Year.”

Murakami’s selection was based on his leadership, technical abilities and facilities engineering support to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

“Murakami’s ability to identify resource conflicts, stay on top of his team’s and customers’ needs and make good business decisions allowed the most efficient and effective use of those resources,” said NAVFAC Hawaii Project Management Engineering Branch head Mike Williams.

In 2014, the University of Hawaii graduate led his team to complete more than 200 projects, exceeding an estimated $40 million, even with challenges imposed by the government shutdown, furloughs in 2013, and reductions in manpower and resources in 2014.

Ferrara, lead construction manager in the Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division, led efforts to build the $156 million National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration Inouye Regional Center project on Ford Island.

Both Murakami and Ferrara will be considered for the NAVFAC Headquarters Engineer of the Year, as well as compete for the National Society of Professional Engineers Federal Engineer of the Year Award in February.