LINCOLN, RI BETA Group, Inc. (BETA) announces their President and CEO, Frank Romeo, P.E., has been named recipient of the Providence Engineering Society's prestigious Freeman Award for 2016. The Freeman Award is presented to individuals that have demonstrated engineering excellence and advanced the engineering profession throughout their career.

"Frank is a truly deserving recipient of the Freeman Award," said Scott D'Amelio, President of the Providence Engineering Society. "Upon review of this nomination from his peers, Frank was unanimously selected by the Board of Directors as this year's award recipient. His technical abilities coupled with his support and promotion of the Engineering profession are the very attributes for which the award is intended."

Surrounded by peers, coworkers, and family, Romeo thanked the Board for their decision and credited BETA Chairman and Founder Michael E. Grilli, P.E., with providing mentorship that helped guide his career. Building upon the mission and founding principles that Grilli originally established has enabled Romeo to continue to grow the company into a full service Engineering and Landscape Architecture company. 

Frank graduated from Northeastern University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering, and then continued on to earn his Master of Science in Transportation Engineering in 1977. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. During the first decade of his career, Romeo was primarily employed in the local consulting industry as a Transportation Planner and Traffic Engineer. In this capacity he worked on the planning and design of several major statewide transportation initiatives, including the Route 4 Extension in North Kingstown and the Woonsocket Industrial Highway (RI Route 99). Romeo also gained valuable public sector experience, serving as City Traffic Engineer, and later, City Engineer in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Romeo's tenure with BETA began in 1986 as Project Manager on a variety of highway, traffic and transportation planning projects throughout New England. During this time, he served as the Technical Consultant to the North End and Waterfront communities in Boston during construction of the Central Artery project. In 2000, Frank earned the title of President at BETA Group, Inc. 

Romeo has stayed active with industry associations through his career. He has served as President of the Rhode Island Consulting Engineers and following his term, chaired their RIDOT Liaison Committee for several years. He has also been an active member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, where he co-chaired the very successful 2007 Northeast Regional Meeting that was held in Providence. He has also served his community as a Planning Board member in North Kingstown for six years.