Heather Keister Named Engineer of the Year by TSPE South Plains Chapter
Congratulations to Heather Keister, who leads our Lubbock office. She has been recognized as 2024 Engineer of the Year by the South Plains Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers.
The award, the highest honor given to an individual TSPE member, recognizes an engineer whose work has made a difference in the community and has advanced the profession.
With 22 years of civil engineering experience covering areas such as stormwater, transportation, infrastructure, planning and development, Heather has played a key role in establishing our Lubbock office in 2013 and overseeing operations in West Texas. Her tenure has seen a steady expansion of the firm’s regional presence, with her team growing from three to 28 members, specializing in transportation, stormwater, construction services and utilities.
Heather’s work has included a significant role in the City of Lubbock’s Road Bond Program, where she led the Citizen Committee in the development and promotion of the project list with the Political Action Committee. She also spearheaded the Upper Brazos Regional Flood Plan, a component of Texas’ inaugural state flood plan. The project received the 2023 TSPE Trailblazer Award as the best engineering project.
Heather embodies Freese and Nichols’ core value of community investment in her dedication to community and civic leadership through her committee and board member roles with the Lubbock Area United Way, Lubbock Chamber, City of Lubbock, TSPE South Plains Chapter, Leadership Lubbock and Texas Public Works Association. A strong advocate for budding engineers, she has delivered presentations at Texas Tech University for the TSPE and ASCE student chapters, Whitacre College of Engineering Women in Engineering Lunch and Learn, and Civil Engineering Freshman Seminar.
