Angie Shepherd, general engineer at the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Pittsburgh, Pa., is one of two recipients of the 2008 President’s Leadership Award from ASTM International. 

The President’s Leadership Award recognizes individuals early in their ASTM career who have significantly advanced the Society’s mission through extraordinary accomplishment, example and vision. Richard Peri, vice president of government and industry affairs at the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) in Washington, D.C., was also honored this year.  Shepherd and Peri are the first recipients of this new ASTM award, which was established in 2007.

Shepherd, who joined ASTM International in 2005, is vice chair of Committee F23 on Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment.  She works on several F23 subcommittees and is an active contributor to the ongoing development of new standards.  She also acts as a technical liaison between Committee F23 and the NPPTL, a group that is the focal point for U.S. government research on and testing of personal protective technology and equipment.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and textile chemistry from North Carolina State University in 1997, Shepherd began her career at DuPont Polyester, Hopewell, Va., as a quality and process engineer.  In 1999, she joined the staff at Underwriters  Laboratories, Research Triangle Park, N.C., as a senior project engineer, and in 2005 she assumed her role at NIOSH. As a general engineer in the Technology Research Branch of NPPTL, Shepherd is responsible for a number of protective clothing research projects related to fire and emergency service personal protective equipment. 

In addition to ASTM International, Shepherd is a member of the National Fire Protection Association.  She received the Pittsburgh Federal Executive Board’s Rookie of the Year Gold Award in 2006 in recognition of her research work at NPPTL. 

 Release #8120/Dec08