Biographies
Tipping Point Resources Group, LLC is a partnership of nationally and internationally recognized experts in civil and environmental engineering, dredged material and contaminated sediment management, sediment stabilization, beneficial use, and upland brownfield development. Our collective expertise includes proprietary in-situ and ex-situ sediment treatment technologies, geotechnical engineering, applied materials science, structural engineering, regulatory permitting, transportation logistics, and innovative treatment technology development.
Eric A. Stern
President, Sediment Management
Eric is a Founding Partner and the President of Strategic Operations and Sediment Management for TPRG. Eric has nearly 35 years of sediment management experience having spent 24 years in the US Government both with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New York District and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2.
Alfred Kovalik, PE, LEP, LEED-AP
President and Chief Operating Officer
Al has been actively engaged in the construction and engineering fields for 30 years specializing in contaminated water, soil and sediment management and remediation. As a founding member of Tipping Point, his responsibilities run the gamut from engineering services and design to financial and contract development, asset development and acquisition, resource deployment and investor relations.
Stephen Matic
Executive Vice President
For more than 20 years, Stephen’s business pursuits have encompassed acquisition, financing, leasing and sales, property management, building services, and construction management across a broad spectrum of real estate sectors such as raw land, multifamily, retail, and office development. His goal in all of his endeavors is to ensure continued quality growth and to provide thoughtful and creative administrative oversight.
Robert Miskewitz, PhD
Chief Science Officer
Robert Miskewitz is the Chief Science Officer at Tipping Point Resources Group. Robert coordinates Tipping Point’s innovative sediment stabilization project design, geotechnical binder testing and Pneumatic Flow Tube Mixing sediment stabilization research. His expertise lies in the area of upland beneficial use program for sustainable applications of sediments. He has a great deal of experience conducting treatability studies for numerous industrial and governmental clients to assess the feasibility stabilizing sediments for a variety of upland beneficial uses. These treatability studies are required to understand the chemical and geotechnical characteristics of the stabilized sediment prior to a project so that a proper mix design can be determined to meet the client’s requirements for both construction and environmental site requirements.
Ali Maher, PhD, F.ASCE
Senior Technical Consultant
Ali Maher has been director of the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, since the center’s inception in 1998. Since that time, he has been responsible for building the center into an active and successful transportation infrastructure resource program operating at the national level. Under his leadership, CAIT has grown into a program of excellence for multimodal infrastructure asset management that is engaged in research, education, and technology transfer initiatives. He has also led the center through two successful national competitions in retaining its status as a U.S. Department of Transportation-designated University Transportation Center (UTC).
Lauren Iacobucci
Lead Project Engineer
Lauren is the Lead Project Engineer for Tipping Point, contributing to the technical design, development, and execution of innovative solutions for dredged material and contaminated sediment management. She has 8 years of experience in applied research and environmental consulting, with specific expertise in treatability studies for sediment stabilization/solidification (S/S) and beneficial use. Lauren has both an MS in Civil/Geotechnical Engineering and a BS in Bioenvironmental Engineering from Rutgers University.
Alex Freimuth
Project Manager
Alex plays a key role in project implementation and team organization as Project Manager for Tipping Point. As a tech savvy planner with a decade of experience in the events and audio engineering industry, Alex brings a keen attention to detail and human touch to project construction, execution, and delivery. His experience with project/program management logistics, team administration, and graphic design elevate the problem-solving and creative capabilities of the Tipping Point group.
Heather Diberardino
Office Manager
Heather is the Office Manager for Tipping Point, with 20 years of experience in project and administrative management. Heather’s skillful organization, database management, and financial acuity are essential to Tipping Point’s day-to-day operations and administration. She is key in contributing another set of “eyes” on details. Heather is a mom of 3 boys who left the corporate world after her twins arrived – they are now 13 years old. She moved on to part-time administrative work to keep her family (and dogs) in line at home. Since she joined Tipping Point in 2019, Heather’s organizational skills and sense of humor have been a great asset to the Group.