BATON ROUGE, LA — Neel-Schaffer, Inc., hires Gary LeBlanc, PE, to serve as a Transportation Project Manager and Sahar Haddadian, EIT, Ph.D., to serve as a Coastal Hydraulic Engineer, both based in the firm’s Baton Rouge office.LeBlanc has 28 years of experience, all with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD). He served as LaDOTD’s Design Development Engineer Manager the last 10 years. Prior to that, he held roles of HPMS/Highway Needs Engineer and Design Engineer.

“We are really excited to have Gary joining our team,” said Nick Ferlito, PE, PTOE, Engineer Manager of Neel-Schaffer’s Baton Rouge office. “His experience with the LaDOTD will be a great asset as we manage current projects and look to grow our client base in Louisiana and across the firm’s footprint.”

LeBlanc is a Registered Professional Engineer in Louisiana and holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Louisiana State University.

Haddadian earned a doctoral degree in civil engineering-coastal engineering from Louisiana State University in 2020 and has experience working for Water Institute of the Gulf. Haddadian also worked for multiple years providing Coastal Engineering and Modeling services to coastal clients in Florida and the Caribbean. Haddadian will work on Coastal Science and Engineering projects for Neel-Schaffer, including analysis and hydrodynamic numerical modeling.

“We are really excited to welcome Sahar to our Coastal and Water Resources team,” said Glenn Ledet, PE, the firm’s Coastal Science and Engineering Program Manager. “She will help us with the continued growth of Coastal and Water Resources Modeling services in Louisiana, Florida, and across the Gulf Coast.”

In addition to her doctorate degree from LSU, Haddadian holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Tabriz in Iran and a Master of Science in civil engineering-hydraulic engineering from the University of Tehran in Iran.