Advisory Board
The CEGE Advisory Board is composed of alumni engineer-advisors that meet regularly to discuss and help advance initiatives of the department, advise department leadership, and help ensure the relevance of CEGE graduates in industry and practice.
Laura Amundson, P.E.
BCE 1978
For the past 30 years, Laura Amundson has been employed by WSP USA, a global engineering firm emphasizing transportation and infrastructure. With a structural engineering background, she has served in technical roles ranging from design engineer to project manager. Her passion for infrastructure design and construction extends to the developing world as an active member of Engineers without Borders, where she is a mentor to the UMN Guatemala project.
Jon Chiglo, P.E.
BCE 1997
Jon Chiglo is the Chief Operating Officer of WSB. He has more than 23 years of experience in the transportation industry in both the public and private sectors, with an emphasis in project delivery and management, innovative project delivery, accelerated project delivery, and technical team supervision. Over his career, Chiglo has been instrumental in a number of alternative contracting and Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) transportation projects. Through his successful management of multi-organizational teams in complex projects and programs, Chiglo has become a leader in the industry.
Nancy Daubenberger, P.E.
MSCE 1997
Nancy Daubenberger is the Commissioner of Transportation in the State of Minnesota. She previously served as Assistant Commissioner, Engineering Services at MnDOT, and as Minnesota's State Bridge Engineer where she was responsible for building, monitoring, and maintaining all the bridges throughout the state--more than 20,000. Daubenberger completed her undergraduate degree at North Dakota State University (1993), and began designing roads and bridges while earning her Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota. She has been working with MnDOT since 1999.
Christie Kearney, P.E.
MS 2006
Christie Kearney is the Social, Environmental and Regulatory Affairs (SERA) Director at NewRange Copper Nickel. She has more than 25 years of experience in environmental and civil engineering working in the public and private sectors. Kearney’s focus has been on environmental review and permitting as well as engineering design, making her an efficient liaison between these worlds. At NewRange, she pulls this experience together in her role as the environmental lead in development of the first copper-nickel mine in Minnesota. Kearney has also focused on furthering STEM education throughout her career, actively participating in organizations such as the Range Engineering Council, which develops educational STEM activities across the Iron Range.
Katrina Kessler, P.E.
MS EnvE 2001
Katrina Kessler, the commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner, is dedicated to collaborative and pragmatic problem-solving to address Minnesota’s most complicated environmental and climate challenges. Before being appointed commissioner, Kessler held the role of assistant commissioner of water policy and agriculture. Her full career at the MPCA extends more than 15 years as a permit engineer and in various managerial roles. Prior to her work at the MPCA, Kessler was the director of the surface water and sewers division at the City of Minneapolis for more than three years where she was responsible for providing strategic direction for the management of the city’s 150-year-old sewer infrastructure along with work to meet climate and water quality goals.
Thomas Lorentz, P.E.
BCE 1990, MS 1992
Thomas Lorentz is President of US Operations of IDOM, Inc. a privately held, multi-discipline engineering company with more than 2,000 professionals and 31 offices around the world. Lorentz is based in Minneapolis and is responsible for US and Canadian operations. Lorentz’s professional career has been focused on the design and evaluation of special structures: welded shell structures such as tanks, pressure vessels, digesters and reactors, and heavy industrial structures in the refining, chemical, paper, heavy manufacturing, and mining sectors. Lorentz is a registered professional engineer in 25 states and 3 Canadian provinces. He is an active member of several local and national professional associations, and a past president of ASCE Minnesota Section.
Daniel Murphy, P.E.
BCE 1974
Dan Murphy is a principal at Meyer Borgman Johnson, a sole discipline structural engineering firm in business since 1955. His 45 years of experience as a structural engineer comprises a broad range of structural design systems, materials, and delivery methods and leadership of some of the firm’s largest and most complex projects. An active participant in the engineering community, he serves on the AELSLAGID design professionals Registration Board of Minnesota and is a past member of the Minnesota Structural Advisory Committee for Building Codes and Standards. Murphy is also Past President and National Director of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota, a Life Member of ASCE, and a founding and past board member of the ACE Mentor Program Minnesota.
Eric Sellman
BCE 1995
Sean Swartz, P.E.
BGEOE 1998
Sean Swartz serves as Senior Vice President and Corporate Officer at Braun Intertec. He leads the engineering and testing division for the upper Midwest region, which includes operations in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Swartz started with Braun Intertec in the St. Cloud office in 1999, and previously directed the North Dakota engineering operations.
Marcus Thomas, P.E.
BCE 1994
Marcus Thomas is a principal and owner of Bolton & Menk; he manages the firm's Burnsville office. As an undergraduate, Thomas completed an internship with Bolton & Menk, Inc., and took a full time position with the firm after graduation. Since that time, he has developed his career and dedicated his efforts towards advancing the values of the firm and the success of its clients. Thomas has built a diverse resume with projects focused on improving Minnesota cities. He has provided services ranging from feasibility studies to forensics, and from legislative lobbying to public engagement and consensus building. He assisted in reclaiming environmentally damaged sites and reestablishing them as public amenities. His infrastructure rehabilitation and streetscape projects catalyzed main street economic growth in revitalized downtown areas. His work has been recognized by awards from the American Public Works Association, City Engineers Association of Minnesota, Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers, and the American Council of Engineering Companies.