The Texas Board of Professional Engineers in Austin has named Sockalingam “Sam” Kannappan its new secretary. TBPE made the announcement last month, adding that the Indian American engineer will be signing all newly-issued licenses. The board issues, monitors and renews roughly 57,000 licenses for engineers.
In addition to his new role as secretary, Kannappan is in the midst of a five-year term as the enforcement committee chairman of the board, which expires September 2017. Kannappan, of Houston, is a professional engineer and senior design engineer for SNC-Lavalin Hydrocarbons and Chemicals in Houston. He also serves as a board member of the Society of Piping Engineers and Designers and advisory board member of the Asia Society’s Texas center.
Previously, Kannappan served as a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Gas Pipeline Safety Research Committee, which defends Houston against bio-terrorism. Additionally, from 2006 to 2011, the Indian American was on the Texas On-Site Wastewater Treatment Research Council.
Throughout his career, Kannappan has received a number of honors and awards, including an award from Crystal Dynamics group of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland for improving laser measurement accuracy.
He also helped raise $20,000 through the Indo-American Charity Foundation while serving as the chairman of the Indo-American Disaster Relief Council, in which the funds went to student representatives of UTMB and the Galveston Recovery Fund in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
Kannappan is a graduate of Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu, receiving a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. He later received his M.S. in mechanical engineering at the University of Texas in Austin.