Big award for local engineer

The Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia announced that Archibald S. Filshill, Ph.D., a Huntingdon Valley resident and chief executive officer of Aero Aggregates of North America, has been elected as the 2023 Delaware Valley Engineer of the Year.

This distinguished award recognizes a standout local engineer who emulates the qualities and talents that define professional excellence, civic duty, society leadership and community stewardship.

Filshill was selected by representatives of local, multi-disciplinary, engineering and technical societies and was recognized during Delaware Valley Engineers Week, Feb. 1625, which is part of the national observance of Engineers Week.

“The Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia is honored to have Archie represent the Delaware Valley as the 2023 Engineer of the Year,” said Bob Wright, chairman of the Delaware Valley Engineers Week Committee. “Archie has used his years of engineering experience and knowledge from his academic studies as a foundation to excel in his entrepreneurial ventures, where he continues to transform the industry for engineers.”

Filshill is the founder and chief executive officer of Aero Aggregates, the first North American company to use waste glass by converting it into ultra-lightweight construction material. Aero Aggregates has played an important role in the rapid acceptance of foamed glass aggregate as a construction material in the United States. In the company’s five years of production, it has shipped from the East Coast to the West Coast and has been approved by more than 20 State Departments of Transportation.

Before Aero Aggregates, Filshill served as managing director for the European subsidiary of CETCO, an environmental products company. He went on to launch his first start-up Inter-Geosynthetics, a material supply company, and InterGeo Services, a specialty subcontractor. InterGeo focused on design and build value engineering, looking at more cost-effective ways to design projects using geosynthetics.

“To receive this award from the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia is a tremendous honor,” Filshill said in response to being elected the 2023 Delaware Valley Engineer of the Year. “To be recognized in this group makes it super special for me because I hold the engineers of the Delaware Valley area in such high regard.”

Filshill earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at Temple University and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering at Drexel University. He has since served as a member of Drexel University’s Engineering Advisory Board and Temple University’s Engineering School Industrial Advisory Board. He spends time educating future engineers by teaching, speaking and mentoring students.

Filshill grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and attended George Washington High School. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family exploring Philadelphia shows, sports games and restaurants and visiting the Jersey shore.

Delaware Valley Engineers Week has been held since 1953 and honors the approximately 100,000 engineers locally and 1.6 million engineers nationally who work to protect health and safety, restore and defend the environment, build factories and run and contribute to the economic future. Engineers Week informs the public on the value of engineers, celebrates engineering marvels, technology and innovation, and works to inspire youth to consider careers in engineering.

The Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia was formed in 1877 to provide a means for engineers to network and share information. The Club’s vision is to be the unifying club for engineers and related professionals in the greater Philadelphia region. It is dedicated to relationship building and networking among technical professionals, communication and collaboration among engineers, raising the awareness of engineering in society, and the professional development of its members. — 19006