BAYANI HONORED AS "ENGINEER OF THE YEAR"(#30024)

FOR RELEASE:  May 4, 1993               CONTACT:  Tom DeRocco
                                               (202) 208-3983


     MMS'S BAYANI HONORED AS "ENGINEER OF THE YEAR" (#30024)


     Theresa Walsh Bayani, a petroleum engineer with the Minerals
Management Service (MMS), has been named the agency's Engineer of
the Year for 1993. 

     Bayani is one of 31 federal agency engineers recognized by
the National Society of Professional Engineers' Professional
Engineers in Government as top engineers in their agencies.  She
works for MMS's Royalty Management Office in Denver, Col., and is
credited with designing a computer program that accurately
measures different values of products coming from nearly 2,000
oil and natural gas leases.  Her system tracks nearly $3.5
billion each year in royalties for government and Indian lessors.

     A native of Butte, Mont., Bayani currently resides in
Denver.  She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in petroleum
engineering from the Montana College of Mineral Science and
Technology, and has been employed by MMS since 1985.

     Bayani will receive the award May 4 during a special
recognition ceremony at the Department of the Interior in
Washington, D.C.
                              -MMS-