Articles

September 2026 Technical Session

Innovative Structural Design Solutions – TxDOT OSB/COSS Standard Updates

Cindy Castro, PE
Associate Vice President
Huitt-Zollars, Inc.

Ms. Castro is originally from Farmers Branch, TX (Dallas Area) and attended Southern Methodist University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering (in Structures). Ms. Castro has spent more than 11 years in the civil engineering consultant industry as a Structural Bridge Engineer while working at Huitt-Zollars where she is currently an Associate Vice President. During this time, she worked on various transportation structure projects, such as direct connectors, bridge replacements, pedestrian truss bridges, retaining wall stabilizations, and OSB/COSS standards to name a few. She has had the opportunity to work on TxDOT, NTTA, public and private projects. She is also a licensed professional engineer in the state of Colorado.

Ms. Castro is a current member of WTS, a sister of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, and a proud SMU Mustang Band alum. Ms. Castro loves spending time with her husband, Emmanuel, and their adorable corgi, Waylon. When Cindy isn’t working, you can often find her baking and decorating cakes or translating her friend’s children’s books for the Spanish community.

Joel Fowler, PE
Design Engineer
Huitt-Zollars, Inc.

Mr. Fowler is a local, raised in the DFW Area before going to Texas A&M University at College Station to pursue an education in engineering from where he earned a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Civil Engineering with a focus in Structural Engineering. Since then he has accumulated 4 years of experience with Huitt-Zollars designing a wide variety of transportation structures, including TxDOT bridge design, bridge rehabilitation, steel design, prestressed concrete design, and of course, the design of OSB/COSS structures. He is an active member of TSPE. Outside of work, he can be found two-stepping, cooking, or spending time with his fiancée and two cats.