Tribute to Lynn Osborn, P.E., M.ASCE: An Industry Leader

This year we are pleased to pay special tribute to Mr. Lynn Osborn, the senior applications manager for Insituform Technologies, LLC. He has been widely recognized as one of the original innovators in the field of cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) technology, a method used to rehabilitate deteriorated pipelines with minimal disruptions to ground surface and subsurface structures and utilities.

When Lynn joined the company in 1984, Insituform was busy with the task of educating the pipeline industry about the technical advantages of using CIPP, and Lynn had to show how the technology was also cost effective. He advised consulting engineers on potential projects, recognizing that many project owners would not use CIPP without a design consultant’s support and encouragement. Lynn’s efforts to include consultants in the procurement process became a part of his signature style of reaching out to all the key players.

As a newcomer to Insituform, Lynn Osborn’s pipeline engineering skills were quickly put into full use as he evaluated whether pipelines should be repaired using traditional methods—such as dig and replace—or trenchless alternatives. Osborn was careful to point out that “Insituform’s principal trenchless technology was, and still is, CIPP. With CIPP, a felt tube, equal in diameter and length to the pipeline being rehabilitated, is impregnated with a liquid, thermosetting resin. The tube is then inserted into the old pipeline and held in place with air or water pressure while the resin cures, forming a new plastic pipe inside the existing pipeline.” It is obvious to anyone who visits with Lynn that this revolutionary technology still has the wow factor for the man who has dedicated his life to its advancement.

It has been nearly 30 years since Lynn Osborn first walked in the door of Insituform. Since then, he has performed and facilitated countless hours of training for water and wastewater utility administrators and pipeline engineers needing to learn these valuable methods designed to rehabilitate deteriorated pipeline systems (Fig. 1). He has overseen the application of CIPP all over the world, and he was the editor and principal author of ASCE manuals of practice (MOP) 120, Trenchless Renewal of Culverts and Storm Sewers, as well as a contributing author for three other MOPs. Lynn has also participated in the writing and reviewing of three college textbooks on trenchless technology, has been the editor or coeditor for the proceedings of two ASCE Pipelines Conferences, is currently an associate editor for ASCE’s Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, and has been either a contributing author or sole author for many other industry reports, journal articles, magazine articles, and conference papers. In addition, he was on the organizing and review committees for the National Association of Sewer Service Companies’ (NASSCO) (www.nassco.org) Inspector Training and Certification Program for CIPP, and the Pipeline Assessment and Certification Program for sewer inspection.

It is particularly interesting to see on his résumé early evidence of an interest in the medical field. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life as a young man just out of high school,” Lynn recalled. “I earned my first bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina.” It was not a free ride. In his words, “From my junior year in high school to my senior year in college (six years) at Wesleyan, I helped pay for my education by joining a harvest crew each summer, traveling from northern Texas to Canada harvesting wheat.”

For Lynn Osborn, the Vietnam War and the U.S. draft put his career plans on hold as he served his country for two and a half years before finally returning to his home state of Kansas. Once home, he found that a career in medicine was not for him. He went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. After graduation, he quickly landed a job working for Wilson & Company, Inc., Engineers and Architects, where he worked for nine years. From an entry-level graduate engineer working in planning, design, and construction of sewers, water lines, wastewater treatment plants, and water treatment plants, Lynn was promoted to project manager for environmental engineering in the Wichita office. He began working for Insituform of North America in January 1984 as Associate Technical Director. He never looked back.

When asked how he would summarize his engineering career, Lynn replied

As the Insituform U.S. sub-licensees were acquired and the company expanded to Insituform Technologies, I became the director of engineering for the $\$400\text{-}\mathrm{million}/\mathrm{year}$, international construction company. Duties of the engineering department included all aspects of support for trenchless products including sales and marketing support, client interface, sales and installer training, raw material specifications, product and project design, equipment design, installation techniques, and construction. My current position of senior applications manager leads the engineering efforts for Insituform applications globally.

Lynn’s position allowed him to travel around the world and meet with end users, researchers, and engineers anxious to use or considering use of CIPP in ailing pipeline systems. Although international travel is not as frequent these days, he considers much of the work accomplished abroad as representative of some of his most valuable professional contributions. He summarized this experience by saying

While working in third world environments, we completed sanitary sewer rehabilitation projects where sewers were totally plugged and nonfunctioning, continually overflowing onto streets, into streams or into neighborhoods or leaking so badly that any groundwater would mostly certainly be contaminated with sewage. This definitely had an impact on the quality of local drinking water supplies. For any young person wanting to pursue a career in engineering, where one can see a definite impact that their work has on improving water quality or, if they want to work in a field that serves to protect the environment, they may want to consider an education in pipeline trenchless technology.

When asked what he considered to be his greatest professional contribution to the industry, Lynn replied, “Probably aiding in the growth of the CIPP market to the billion-dollar-plus industry that it is today. This was accomplished through the development of new products and processes, educating end users and engineers on the design and utilization of CIPP, and actively participating in several industry organizations to promote trenchless pipeline rehabilitation through research, seminars, conferences and publications.”

Many of Lynn Osborn’s accomplishments have revolved around his professional lifetime membership in ASCE and the Pipeline Division. When asked about this, he said, “Over the years I have been the most active in the ASCE Pipeline Division, where I held all officer positions, including chair of the Executive Committee.”

However, for Lynn Osborn, one of his finest moments occurred at the No-Dig Show 2013 (www.nodigshow.com) where he recalls, “It was certainly an honor for me to accept for Eric Wood, inventor of CIPP, when he was posthumously inducted into the NASTT Hall of Fame at No Dig 2013.”

As a licensed professional engineer in Kansas and Missouri, Osborn earned the ASCE Pipeline Division Award of Excellence in 2001. He became an American Water Works Association Life Member in 2009, a Water Environment Federation Life Member in 2012, and an ASCE Life Member in 2012. Lynn serves as a board member for the Center for Underground Infrastructure Research and Education (www.cuire.org) as well as on the Trenchless Technology Center’s (www.latech.edu/tech/engr/ttc/) Advisory Board. For the past five years, he has served as the CIPP Committee Chair for NASSCO.

Lynn Osborn and his wife, Ivy, reside in Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. They raised two children and have four grandchildren. Some with careers as long as Osborn has had would have already retired. However, Lynn has a passion for his profession. When asked what his plans are for the future are, he said he plans to eventually leave the corporate world and become an industry resource, possibly by working through a professional trade association.

The Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice is always pleased to honor pipeline engineers who have significantly raised the level of pipeline technologies and methodologies. Lynn Osborn certainly deserves recognition as a pioneer in the advancement of pipelines and trenchless technology.