Quinn grew up on Long Island, a daughter of an electrical engineer father and a social-worker mother who encouraged her interest in politics as a way to help others.

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An engineer recommended Nicholas Dorman's house in Great Kills, Staten Island, be razed and rebuilt after being smashed by two Sandy-tossed yachts.

WSJ: Superstorm Sandy Stirs Legal Mess for Victims

Scott Morehart, service engineer specialist at life insurance company Modern Woodmen of America, in Rock Island, Ill.

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When I toured the island with National Park Service (NPS) staff in August 2010, Jim Calvinperez, the facilities manager and chief engineer, told me that 2, 000 gallons of diesel fuel had to be shipped to the island weekly in order to keep the generators in the power plant humming.

FORBES: Solar-Powered Microgrid Slashes Alcatraz Island's Dependence On Fossil Fuels