Three receive Distinguished Engineering Alumnus award

Three College of Engineering alumni — Quint M. Barefoot, Dan M. Pleasant and Mark D. Wyatt — received the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus (DEA) award during a dinner and ceremony on campus on Nov. 2, 2022, as part of Red and White Week.

The award was established by the College’s faculty in 1966 and is the highest honor bestowed upon alumni.

Quint M. Barefoot received his B.S. in chemical engineering in 1985 and his MBA at Duke University in 1996.

After engineering school, Barefoot joined Four Seasons Environmental Inc. and led the company from less than $1 million in annual revenue to $42 million employing over 280 personnel in six offices when the business was sold to Great Lakes Chemical Corporation. He continued as president, leading the firm as a division of a publicly traded company and expanding to 16 offices with over 500 employees.

He was a founder of Monosep LLC, started in 2001 to provide water treatment systems to the energy sector. The company is now integrated into Siemens Water Technologies. Barefoot then started Zappa-Tec LLC, a polymer converting business focusing on super absorbent polymer compounds used in telecommunication products, energy applications and medical devices. The business was acquired by Chase Corporation.

He is the CEO of Info-Gel LLC, which produces thixotropic gels for the fiber optic industry.

Dan M. Pleasant earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering in 1973 and 1974, respectively. He has spent more than 50 years in the consulting engineering profession.

Pleasant has held several key positions with Dewberry since managing the startup of an office in Danville, Virginia, including southeast division manager, and president of Dewberry Engineers Inc., a Dewberry Company of 1,800 employees. In 2010, Pleasant was named chief operating officer. During his tenure, he helped direct the company through significant market segment growth and expansion. He also managed the acquisition of seven companies.

In April 2022, Pleasant transitioned into a consulting role. He continues to guide critical initiatives for Dewberry, and he is also active with Dewberry’s clients, serving as an executive client manager for several strategic clients.

Pleasant has a long history of volunteer and board service, and he is an advisory board member for the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering.

Mark D. Wyatt received a B.S. degree in computer science in 1980. He retired from Duke Energy in 2013 with 34 years of senior management and utility experience. Wyatt served as vice president of grid modernization, where he was responsible for delivering enhanced operational efficiencies for the company’s transmission and distribution system, as well as providing a platform for growing the company’s revenue through leveraging grid modernization investments to provide value-added products and services to the company’s retail customer base.

Wyatt started with Duke Energy in the information management department. He moved to the distribution department several years later. Following this assignment, he experienced a series of promotions within the company in the retail customer services, transmission, distribution, generation, unregulated business operations and information technology areas.

Wyatt has been a member of numerous boards throughout his career, including the Computer Science Strategic Advisory Board and the NC State Engineering Foundation Board of Directors.