Officers

Paul B. Mauser, P.E. is the Assistant County Engineer for Sussex County, Delaware. He serves Sussex County in numerous capacities, including supervision, budgeting, planning, design, and construction administration of County infrastructure projects. Being responsible for numerous large scale public infrastructure projects, Paul’s Leadership Mission is "To Design, Construct, Protect, and Advance public infrastructure by championing long-term resilience and leading multi faceted projects and teams with absolute transparency and structural clarity to ensure the projects we build today stand as safe, reliable, and proud legacies for generations to come."

He is a Professional Engineer (PE) licensed in MD & DE, 2004 graduate of Delaware Tech (Owens Campus), 2006 graduate of the University of Delaware (UD), and 2011 graduate of Salisbury University’s Perdue School of Business (MBA). Paul has been a Member of the ASCE Eastern Shore Branch since 2013 and is an ASCE Past President of the Maryland Section – Eastern Shore Branch (ESB) – Younger Member Group (YMG), serving as President of the YMG from 2017 to 2019. Paul has served on the Main Branch as the Director (2018 – 2020), Secretary (2020 – 2022), Treasurer (2022 – 2024), and Vice President (2024 – 2026) and is looking forward to serving and leading the Branch as the President.

Paul lives an intentional, structured, and disciplined life and is fortunate to be a lifelong resident of Sussex County, Delaware. He is very intentional to seek out and engage in challenging hobbies, including: International & Domestic Travel, Weightlifting & Trail Running, Reading, Recording, Custom Design & Construction, Lumberjacking, Hiking, and Hunting.

Ryan C. Ward, P.E. is a civil and geotechnical engineer who served as both Staff Engineer and Project Level Engineer at Hillis-Carnes Engineering Associates from 2014 to 2021. In 2022, he and his business partner started Stable Ground In-Situ (SGI); a new company focused on providing the best soils data and consulting. His 12 years of experience includes advanced in-situ testing; settlement estimation; and bearing capacity evaluation for an array of commercial, governmental, industrial, and residential projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, North East and beyond.

He received a Bachelor of Science in mining engineering from Virginia Tech in 2013 and completed a Master of Science in engineering with a geostructural emphasis in 2019 from University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He is an active member of the ASCE Maryland Eastern Shore Branch and serves as a Secretary, Technology Chair and the past-president of the branch’s Younger Members Group.

In his free time, he enjoys the outdoors and hands-on projects in the garage or shop.

Joshua T. Elliott, P.E. is an Assistant County Engineer with Talbot County.  He works with the County Public Works staff to oversee and develop civil engineering and capital projects.  Josh has 7 years of engineering experience designing and managing municipal infrastructure projects including street reconstruction, site work, water, and wastewater projects.  Prior to joining Talbot County, he worked as a consulting engineer.  Josh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Alabama and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Maryland and Delaware. 

Originally from Delmar, Delaware, he currently lives in Trappe, Maryland with his wife and son.  His hobbies include spending time with family and friends, outdoor recreation, DIY projects, and golfing.

Kerica Contreras, P.E. is a structural engineer with George, Miles & Buhr, LLC (GMB) in Salisbury, Maryland. She has extensive experience in both engineering design and mathematics education. At GMB, Kerica provides structural designs using post-tensioned concrete as well as conventional wood framing and masonry, conducts structural conditions inspections and evaluations, and prepares Long-Term Reserve Studies.

She is also experienced in field engineering during construction, including a $4.8 million project to construct the 51st Combat Communications Squadron Facility on Robins Air Force Base, which received an Outstanding Construction Contractor Appraisal Support System (CCASS) rating from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She spent 10+ years as a K-12 Mathematics Teacher in the Dominican Republic, State of Georgia, and State of Maryland. Additionally, she served nearly 4 years in the U.S. Air Force as an Avionic Sensors Technician. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

She holds the following degrees – a Master of Education from American Intercontinental University, a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Florida State University, and an Associate of Applied Science in Industrial Management from Okaloosa-Walton Community College. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Maryland and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) since 2019.

She currently resides in Delmar, MD with her husband, son, and daughter. On her off time enjoys spending time with family and friends. She enjoys outdoor activities and traveling.

Robert Kane, P.E. is an owner and operator of Endeavor Engineering. He has 25 years of experience in Civil Site Design Engineering, with a total combined 33 years of overall engineering experience. Currently, Mr. Kane is primarily responsible for the production and delivery of engineering plans, technical specifications and other reports and analyses. His specialties include water resources, site and road design, sediment and erosion, FEMA compliance, permit acquisition, municipal project support and fire protection for both public and private projects.

He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology located in Newark, N.J. He is currently licensed as a Professional Engineer in the States of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, New Jersey and North Carolina. Mr. Kane holds a Certification of Responsible Personnel in Erosion and Sediment Control from MDE and is currently a member of the Ocean Pines Area Water and Wastewater Advisory Board.

He resides in Ocean Pines, Maryland with his wife and three boys. On his off time, he enjoys spending time with his family, home improvement projects, auto mechanics and fishing. 

Caroline M. Krauss, P.E. is a Structural Engineer with Becker Morgan Group, Inc. in Salisbury, Maryland. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland in 2020 and is a licensed Professional Engineer. She specializes in the structural design and evaluation of residential, commercial, and historic structures and is responsible for structural design, project management, site investigations for projects throughout the Delmarva region.

She is passionate about supporting the engineering profession, engaging with the local engineering community, and encouraging the next generation of civil and structural engineers.

She lives in Tyaskin, Maryland, with her husband and daughter. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and being outdoors.

Joshua J. Taylor, P.E. is an Associate and Senior Engineer at Davis, Bowen & Friedel, Inc. (DBF) and has 23 years of experience providing municipal infrastructure engineering services to various clients in both Maryland and Delaware. These services have included on-call engineering services, planning, preliminary engineering evaluations, project design, permitting, construction administration, and field inspection. Mr. Taylor manages the Municipal Engineering Department for DBF’s Salisbury Office, where his areas of expertise include wastewater collection, conveyance and disposal systems; water supply, treatment, storage and distribution systems; roadway design and stormwater collection systems.

Mr. Taylor has a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Engineering Technology from the University of Delaware and is a registered Professional Engineer in MD & DE. He is also a registered Class B & C On-site Wastewater Treatment System Designer and Class H System Inspector in DE, and a Certified On-site System Inspector in MD. He is a member of ASCE-ESB, DAPE, DOWRA, MOWPA, and NOWRA.  Mr. Taylor currently serves as the Treasurer for the ASCE Maryland Section - Eastern Shore Branch.

Mr. Taylor currently lives in Delmar, DE with his wife Lindsay, their four children, and 3 dogs.  He is active in local community service through his positions at Parkway Church in Salisbury, on the Church Council, Missions Team, and Facilities Management Board. He is also very active with third-world missions as Team Leader for Team Guatemala: Hope Rising, traveling annually to Central America since 2008 to work on construction projects in one of the poorest regions of Guatemala. 

Joshua T. Elliott, P.E. is an Assistant County Engineer with Talbot County.  He works with the County Public Works staff to oversee and develop civil engineering and capital projects.  Josh has 7 years of engineering experience designing and managing municipal infrastructure projects including street reconstruction, site work, water, and wastewater projects.  Prior to joining Talbot County, he worked as a consulting engineer.  Josh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Alabama and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Maryland and Delaware. 

Originally from Delmar, Delaware, he currently lives in Trappe, Maryland with his wife and son.  His hobbies include spending time with family and friends, outdoor recreation, DIY projects, and golfing.

Ryan C. Ward, P.E. is a civil and geotechnical engineer who served as both Staff Engineer and Project Level Engineer at Hillis-Carnes Engineering Associates from 2014 to 2021. In 2022, he and his business partner started Stable Ground In-Situ (SGI); a new company focused on providing the best soils data and consulting. His 12 years of experience includes advanced in-situ testing; settlement estimation; and bearing capacity evaluation for an array of commercial, governmental, industrial, and residential projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, North East and beyond.

He received a Bachelor of Science in mining engineering from Virginia Tech in 2013 and completed a Master of Science in engineering with a geostructural emphasis in 2019 from University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He is an active member of the ASCE Maryland Eastern Shore Branch and serves as a Secretary, Technology Chair and the past-president of the branch’s Younger Members Group.

In his free time, he enjoys the outdoors and hands-on projects in the garage or shop.