Sheryll Impellizzeri, the engineering lead and newly appointed engineering program manager for the National Roofing Program, began her tenure at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Department of the Army intern in 2010. With a degree in mechanical engineering, she worked several years in mechanical design and in 2015 transferred to Engineering Management Branch, Reserves. Her career path included a significant role as the design manager and sustainability engineering program manager for the USACE, Japan District, where she dedicated three years of her career.
The Louisville District manages the National Roofing Program as part of its nation-wide Army Reserve mission. The NRP began in 1997 and was brought to the Louisville District in 2005 for nation-wide roll out and execution.
The NRP is a roof inspection and replacement program with the goal of minimizing cost through high-quality design and construction. Last year alone, the NRP replaced approximately 20 roofs at an estimated cost of nearly $30 million.
Impellizzeri’s goal as engineering’s new program manager is to continue to build this program. She said she strives to bring coordination and communication between the customer and construction and provide clear expectations for each project.
“Sheryll has been instrumental in improving the communication with our customers,” said Tim McClellan, engineering division reserves section chief, who also previously served as engineering's NRP program manager. “She has set up periodic meetings with the stakeholders to ensure our focus aligns with their priorities. She has also significantly improved the programmatic communication in the district between engineering, construction, contracting, and project management. Sheryll has increased the focus on the program and future planning as opposed to a focus on just project execution.”
Before Impellizzeri took on this key role within the NRP, she dedicated her time and experience to mentor others to bring versatility to the program.
“When I started back in 2020, I was brand new to the government,” said Andrew Mccauley, Louisville District project engineer. “My supervisor at the time assigned me to work on the NRP Program despite having no prior experience with roofing. Through Sheryll and Tim’s mentorship, I was able to learn about the various roofing systems, their respective strengths and weaknesses, and which systems should be used based on the situation. In addition, being introduced to the NRP early on and being mentored by Tim and Sheryll really helped me with learning USACE processes and the different phases of designing and constructing a project. The experience I have gained from being on the NRP team, I believe, has made me a better and more versatile Project Engineer as the skills and knowledge I’ve gained translate directly to other vertical construction projects that I help to execute for our Army and Air Force Reserve customers.”
With Impellizzeri’s passion to build and better the program, she recently hosted the first program training event specifically for USACE NRP employees from all over the nation to learn from senior personnel on how to properly execute the program.
The Program Training held Dec. 12-14, 2023, covered the history and overview of the program, case studies and break downs of roof types and details. Participants also had the opportunity for open discussions and a site investigation visit to an Army Reserve Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
“I have a vested interest in ensuring this program maintains being a Winning Program,” said Impellizzeri. “It allows opportunities for new engineers in Engineering and a partnership with Construction Division to execute this program for our stakeholder.”