William Rockensies named Top Engineer

William Rockensies, of West Hempstead, has been named the top engineer on Long Island by Long Island Business News. He received the accolade last month at the 2024 Real Estate, Architecture and Engineering Awards, at the Crest Hollow Country Club.

Growing up, Rockensies told the Herald, he was always interested in construction and building. So when it was time for him to decide what to study when he went to school at Manhattan College, the choice was clear. He majored in Civil Engineering, a path that would lead him to his now 40-year career.

Rockensies serves as the Commissioner of the West Hempstead Sanitary District, and is the senior vice president and director of construction services for H2M, a consulting and design firm based in Melville.

Before that, he was an engineer for the New York City Department of Transportation and then the Village of Freeport, and eventually became the commissioner of the Town of Hempstead’s Department of Engineering.

Since joining H2M in 2016, Rockensies has worked on a wide variety of Long Island projects for clients such as PSEG-LI, the towns of Hempstead and Islip, and the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery. In fact, H2M and the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery — now the state Office of Resilient Homes and Communities — are both contributing heavily to the Village of Malverne’s current renovation of Whelan Field.

Outside of his work with H2M, Rockensies is also the chairman of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency. On top of that, he dedicates a significant amount of time and energy in support of the Mother Mary Breathe Easy Foundation, which raises money toward researching a cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive respiratory disease that affects approximately 100,000 people in the United States.

“I am thrilled that my peers on Long Island recognize my work and dedication to my profession,” Rockensies said in a statement to the Herald.