2023 A&WMA Fellow Membership

The Fellow Grade of Membership was inaugurated in 1986 to recognize professional attainment and accomplishments related to the mission and objectives of A&WMA. A candidate for fellowship has a minimum of 15 years of experience in an area served by the Association and has been a member of the Association for at least 10 continuous years. Fellows are recognized for their professional accomplishments and service to the Association based on a process, product, or regulatory development; project leadership; managerial achievement; the education of specialists; peer-reviewed technical publications; patents; and research or theoretical developments.

A&WMA presents the Fellow Grade of Membership to Robert Mentzer in 2023.

Mr. Robert Mentzer is a Principal Consultant with the Transportation Environmental firm Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. (HMMH) and he has been with the company since 1994. He originally joined A&WMA while a student at the University of Lowell (UMASS Lowell) in 1987. He remained a student member for two years while completing his Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology. As a student, A&WMA publications allowed Mr. Mentzer to see a wide variety of research topics and gain ideas for potential future employment opportunities.
 
Mr. Mentzer started part-time in 1988 while in college at Sigma Research Corporation working with Dr. Steven Hanna primarily on revisions to the Offshore Coastal Dispersion (OCD) model. After graduation, he remained at Sigma Research Corporation as a consultant, working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guideline models (including ISC, Mobile, Cal3QHC, OCD and others). He helped monitor and collect data from the Northeast Dry Deposition Network (NDDN) on a daily basis. He was involved in several power plant permitting projects, research studies and dispersion modeling studies while at Sigma Research. He also contributed to several studies and papers applying the OCD model to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and he was a significant contributor to the EPA published report Evaluation of CO Intersection Modeling Techniques Using a New York City Database EPA-454/R-92-004, in August 1992.
 
Mr. Mentzer joined HMMH in 1994 as a consultant in the aviation group and has remained with the company involved in a wide range of software development and noise and air quality studies. He was the onsite noise technician for the Boston Central Artery Project for over 18 months. He worked his way up through the company leading HMMH’s Aviation Noise Center of Excellence for over ten years. He is currently a Principal Consultant with HMMH and works from his home office in central Florida. He is recognized as a subject matter expert in aviation noise and leads several major projects throughout the US. He has led a wide variety of NEPA and Part 150 noise projects including on-call contracts at several airports since the late 1990’s. While at HMMH, Mr. Mentzer helped design, test, install and support an innovative proprietary system that automatically converts daily airport radar data files into FAA noise model inputs, generating daily noise contours and grid point data. This system allowed airports to track changing noise conditions and was installed and supported at various airports throughout the US for over ten years. This system has also been used as part of several research projects in the US and UK.
 
Mr. Mentzer was an integral part of the FAA Integrated Noise Model (INM) Design Review Group for many years and was an invited member to the Transportation Research Board (TRB) development committee for a new replacement noise and air quality model.  He participated in those meetings and assisted with beta testing the new model throughout its release in 2015. HMMH also provided a very popular noise model training course for many years and Mr. Mentzer was one of the lead instructors. He also provided this class onsite to AirServices Australia staff and consultants in Australia back in 2011.
 
After joining Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. (HMMH) in 1994, Mr. Mentzer returned to A&WMA as a member in 1995 and attended his first Annual Conference in 2008. He joined the Community Noise and Vibration committee while at the conference and became Vice Chair of the Community Noise and Vibration (CNV) committee in 2011. In 2014, Mr. Mentzer rotated up to CNV Chair which he held until 2016 when he became Vice Chair of ET-3 Transportation Division. In 2019, Mr. Mentzer rotated up to the Chair of ET-3 which is the position he holds today. He has been a member of the Technical Council since 2011 and has been either a speaker, moderator or both at Annual Conferences since then. He presented papers in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2020 at the Annual Conferences. He has attended the Annual Conference Planning Committee meetings since 2017 and has participated in slotting sessions and setting the Transportation sessions. Mr. Mentzer was on the planning committee and served as vice chair for both the inaugural 2019 and 2022 Freight & Environment: Ports of Entry specialty conferences. 

Mr. Mentzer is also a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers A-21 Aircraft Noise Measure Aviation Emission committee, Florida Airport Council Noise Committee and was recently elected to the HMMH Board of Directors. In addition to A&WMA ACE presentations, he has made presentations at various Florida Airports Council (FAC) conferences and developed the noise section of the 2019 FAC Environmental Resource Guidebook.
 
He has had a long relationship with A&WMA and his long-time employer HMMH has supported his efforts to participate in the annual conference and technical council. A&WMA has had a positive role on his career providing outside leadership roles, presentation and educational opportunities. He has developed professional relationships with many colleagues through A&WMA and the annual and specialty conferences always provide opportunities to present and gain additional insight to ongoing research.