About our Sessions
Public Works Panel
Sponsored by O’Brien Engineering, Inc.
Travis Attansio PE
City of Burleson
Mr. Attanasio brings his 20 year professional experience serving as a Senior Civil Engineer for the City of Burleson, which is south of Fort Worth in Johnson County, Texas. He is also the ASCE Texas Section President-Elect, the Texas Section being the largest Section in ASCE with over 10,000 members. Prior to his current engagement he was the first full-time City Engineer for the City of Haslet from 2016-2021 and also worked with several private consulting engineering firms ranging in employee size from 6 to over 500 employees with projects across many States. This career path has led Mr. Attanasio to understand the infrastructure needs of Texas from both a private investment point of view and the demand of public needs in differing regions and environments. Mr. Attanasio holds a B.S. degree in Engineering – Civil Specialty from the Colorado School of Mines graduating in 2002.
Robert Valenzuela PE, CFM
City of Sugar Land
Under his leadership, the Public Works Department was responsible for providing excellent and reliable customer service by developing and implementing asset management programs and data driven strategies for the repair, operations, maintenance and regulatory compliance of the City’s public streets, traffic control devices, intelligent transportation systems, sidewalks, bridges, drainage systems, water, wastewater and reuse infrastructure.
Paul Knippel PE
City of Frisco
Paul Knippel has been the Director of Engineering with the City of Frisco for the past thirteen years, serving in a dual capacity as Director of Public Works and Director of Engineering for the past six years. Prior to his engagement with Frisco, Paul served as the Director of Public Works for the cities of Abilene, Texas and Kerrville, Texas. Paul is a licensed Professional Engineer with a BS in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University, and a Master of Public Administration from UT Arlington.
Kent Collins PE
City of Coppell
Kent Collins is the Director of Public Works for the City of Coppell, Texas, where he is responsible for engineering, capital projects, streets, traffic, utilities, drainage, facilities and fleet maintenance operations. Mr. Collins has over 25 years in the public sector, previously serving in various engineering and leadership roles at DFW Airport, the Town of Flower Mound, and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. His professional interests span all aspects of public works and engineering with particular interest in transportation, asset management and customer service. Kent is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1993 and 1995 respectively.
