The L.A. White Young Engineer Award recognizes early-career engineers who demonstrate exceptional leadership, innovation, and service to the profession and community. 

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Kirk Herman, P.Eng., CEM, has built his career around complex, community serving engineering challenges at the intersection of infrastructure, energy, and climate resilience. Working with governments, municipalities, institutions, and Indigenous communities, he brings together technical analysis, strategic thinking, and practical implementation to help clients make better decisions about infrastructure that will serve them for decades. His work spans Nova Scotia and communities across Canada. 

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Growing up on his family farm on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, Kirk developed an early appreciation for practical problem solving, adaptability, and environmental stewardship. He went on to study Environmental Engineering at Dalhousie University, where his senior design team received the 2015 Engineers Nova Scotia Senior Project Award in Environmental Engineering for the design and construction of a concept photobioreactor for carbon capture and storage research. 

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Kirk began his professional career with Nova Scotia Community College’s Central Facilities and Engineering Office. Over eight years, he supported infrastructure and sustainability initiatives across NSCC’s 14 campuses, gaining experience at the intersection of engineering design, facility operations, sustainability, and long-term capital planning. His work included the deployment of solar photovoltaic systems across multiple campuses, Atlantic Canada’s first bi-directional Level 3 DC fast charger at NSCC’s Middleton Campus, and leadership in the development of NSCC’s Climate Change Action Plan. 

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In 2023, Kirk joined EastPoint Engineering, where he has helped build a growing practice focused on energy, climate, and infrastructure advisory work. A defining feature of his practice is his ability to work on problems that do not fit neatly within a single engineering discipline. His projects often require multidisciplinary teams to balance technical performance, affordability, climate risk, operational constraints, community priorities, and long-term resilience.  

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Since joining EastPoint, Kirk’s work with the Nunatsiavut Government in northern Labrador has become a defining part of his practice. Across the five remote Inuit communities of Nunatsiavut, he has led and supported projects related to energy security, essential infrastructure, climate resilience, and long-term planning in a context shaped by remoteness, aging infrastructure, diesel dependence, harsh conditions, and limited local capacity. A central part of this work is Nunatsiavut’s Regional Energy Strategy, where he is helping assess regional energy challenges, identify priorities, and develop a practical framework to guide future policy, investment, and implementation of retrofit and renewable energy projects. The work requires balancing technical, operational, financial, and community considerations while translating complex analysis into clear, decision-ready guidance for government and community leadership. 

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In 2024, Kirk led a multidisciplinary team of mechanical, electrical, and civil engineers in assessing an aging drinking water pumphouse experiencing reliability issues in the remote community of Makkovik in Nunatisavut. The team identified critical safety and infrastructure needs and developed practical recommendations for immediate improvements and longer-term replacement. Kirk’s role was helping translate the technical findings into clear information that community leaders could use to determine a path forward for critical infrastructure. 

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Kirk has also led broader municipal energy and climate planning initiatives. As the lead for the development of the Town of Truro’s Community Energy and Emissions Plan, he worked with municipal staff, businesses, community organizations, and residents to develop an actionable pathway for reducing emissions while supporting economic development and community wellbeing. Through the national Climate Ready Infrastructure Service (CRIS), he has worked with several municipalities and Indigenous communities to help move low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure projects from early concepts toward implementation. 

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Kirk also provides engineering expertise to Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada in support of low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure. His work includes developing technical knowledge and decision-support resources that help municipal governments across Canada advance projects aligned with federal infrastructure and funding priorities, as well as assessing the cost-effectiveness and long-term value of climate resilience measures. Through this work, Kirk contributes beyond individual projects by helping strengthen the technical basis for infrastructure planning and investment decisions at a national scale. 

Within EastPoint, he places particular importance on mentoring new graduates and junior staff. He intentionally creates opportunities for younger engineers to participate in client meetings, site visits, and complex community-facing projects, with an emphasis on developing not only technical competence but also judgment, communication, and an understanding of community context. 

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Across his work and community involvement, Kirk has built a reputation for approaching difficult problems with curiosity, humility, and a strong sense of responsibility to the people affected by engineering decisions. His career reflects a belief that engineering is at its best when technical excellence is paired with practical judgment, clear communication, and a genuine understanding of the communities it is intended to serve. 

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For his achievements in environmental engineering, his leadership in climate resilience and infrastructure planning, his dedication to supporting communities and emerging professionals, and his commitment to service both within and beyond the profession, Kirk Herman, P.Eng., is the recipient of the 2026 L.A. White Young Engineer Award.