Girum Awoke is the Director of Engineering & Technology for the Alameda County Water District. Girum has 20 years of professional experience in public works and utilities engineering in both the private and public sectors. For the past 10+ years, Girum has served in executive management roles, and his most recent assignments were as the Director of Public Works for the City of Vacaville, and Public Works Director for the City of Gilroy. He also served as Chief of Construction for Montgomery County in Maryland. Girum holds a PhD and Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland and has several certifications in project management, alternative project delivery, and leadership. He is a member of many industry associations including the AWWA, APWA, CMAA, and ITE. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in California and Maryland, and serves as adjunct faculty at Santa Clara University and San Jose State University.