Personalities & Practices

Local A/E firms announce promotions, new hires and LEED accreditations

Architects

The Durrant Group Inc. recently announced the addition of two members to its staff.

Jeff Pedersen has joined the firm’s Denver office, where he will act as senior project manager. Pedersen brings more than 20 years of experience to Durrant in a broad range of building types, with an emphasis on multifamily, retail and hospitality projects. Before joining Durrant, Pedersen was a principal with his own firm in Boulder.

Michael McLean has also joined the Denver office, where he will act as project architect. McLean brings 13 years of experience in Canada, Mexico and the United States, working in commercial, governmental, industrial, hospitality and residential projects.

Heery International recently announced that Tim Shabanowitz, an architect-in-training with Heery since 2006, has recently achieved status as a LEED AP.

OZ Architecture recently announced the promotions of several staff members to principal and associate principal positions.

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Chad Holtzinger was promoted to principal. Holtzinger is experienced in office and laboratory projects.

Heike Kerbs was promoted to principal. With more than 15 years of experience in both the United States and Germany, Kerbs is leading teams on multi-building village projects throughout the world.

Elaine Kanelos Jensen, director of marketing, was promoted to principal. Over the last nine years, Jensen has overseen all aspects of architectural marketing, from business development to firm branding.

Liz Rane was promoted to principal. A certified public accountant, Rane has jumped enthusiastically into the complex role of chief financial officer for several of OZ’s studios.

Don Schieferecke was promoted to principal. Schieferecke has more than 10 years of architectural experience, including extensive residential and mixed-use work.

Dan Miller was promoted to associate principal. Miller is experienced in providing planning, programming and design services for educational and municipal facilities as well as multifamily housing and resort projects.

Jene Alie was promoted to associate principal. Alie has managed some of OZ’s largest resort village projects, including Snowmass Village. These projects include retail, residential, hospitality, multifamily and associated services buildings.

Tom Hoover was promoted to associate principal. Hoover joined OZ to further enrich the firm’s expertise, but more importantly, to guide OZ’s studio in Colorado Springs. He is experienced in many project types, including office buildings, mixed-use, high-end retail, hotels, federal and municipal projects and single- and multifamily housing.

RNL’s Denver office has recently added four new employees to its studios.

Victor Kolouch joined RNL’s architecture studio as senior project architect. Kolouch has a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Colorado at Denver and has taught at the University of Colorado at Denver.

Melissa Friedland joined RNL’s engineering studio as an intern engineer. Friedland was an electrical and lighting designer at ILA/Zammit in San Diego and has a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Josh Furman also joined RNL’s engineering studio as an intern engineer. Furman worked for Hydro-Engineering and has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wyoming.

Paula Dulin joined RNL’s Interiors Studio. She was an interior designer at SmithGroup Architecture in Arizona and has a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Kansas.

In other staffing news, Komal Kotwal, intern architect with RNL since 2006, has recently achieved status as a LEED AP, and Nathan Huyler is RNL’s newest registered architect, having recently completed the Colorado architect registration examination.

Engineers

The American Council of Engineering Cos. of Colorado recently named its 2008–2009 board.

Lauren E. Evans, Pinyon Environmental Engineering Resources Inc. was elected president and is the first woman to hold the office in ACEC/CO’s 52-year history. Robert G. Refvem, Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, will serve as vice president; and William Hoffmann, CTL/Thompson, will serve as secretary/treasurer.

ACEC/CO also added four new directors to its board: Michael Ellsberry, Huitt-Zollars Inc.; Marvinetta Hartwig, Hartwig & Associates; Richard Huwa, RLH Engineering Inc.; and Gregory Roush, Leonard Rice Engineers.

Additionally, former ACEC/CO president Stuart Monical, MKK Consulting Engineers, was elected to serve as an ACEC national director.

Boulder-based JVA Inc. recently announced that Josh McGibbon, Dennis Beamis and Jody Allen have joined the firm.

McGibbon joined the civil department in Boulder as a senior project manager focused on water and wastewater projects. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Montana State University.

Beamis also joined as a senior project manager in the civil department. He is a registered professional engineer with 20 years of experience. For the last nine years, Beamis has owned and run Ascent Engineering in Arvada, providing services in residential and commercial development in the Denver metro area and throughout the state.

Allen recently moved from Minnesota to join JVA’s civil department as a senior designer. He has a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Minnesota State University.

URS Corp. recently welcomed a new marketing professional to its Denver operations in the Tech Center. Paula Petrock joined URS as a marketing coordinator in the firm’s Transportation Division, where she will support marketing and business development activities.

A Colorado native, Petrock brings 13 years of marketing experience in the Denver A/E industry to her new position.

The Colorado Springs office of Farris Engineering Inc., mechanical and electrical consulting engineers, recently announced the appointment of Mark A. Horst as principal. Horst is a graduate of the South Dakota School of Mines and has been employed by Farris Engineering for 24 years.

S. A. Miro Inc. recently announced the following promotions of key individuals:

Brian Heitman has been promoted to associate in the firm’s structural department. Heitman’s recent and current projects include DU’s Nagel Hall, Adams 50 High School, Syracuse Office Building and Denver Hospice.

Bud Ahearn, senior executive at Denver’s CH2M Hill and a retired Air Force major general, recently received the Golden Eagle Award from the Society of American Military Engineers. Ahearn was recognized for his lifetime of contributions to the engineering profession and commended for his career-long promotion of innovative leadership and technology to advance project performance and industry productivity.

Established in 1996, the Golden Eagle Award annually honors two outstanding Americans for contributions to the engineering profession and national security.

The company also announced the appointment of Jacqueline Rast as president and group chief executive for its Consulting, Engineering, Procurement and Construction Center of Excellence.

Rast has 25 years of experience in both the delivery and development of consulting, design, construction management, program management and design-build projects for government and private sector clients. She has worked in the transportation, water, environmental, industrial and military facilities, nuclear and sport markets.

She received her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Karen Stuart has joined Jacobs Carter Burgess as senior business development specialist in the Denver office.

Stuart comes to the firm with extensive experience in government services and government relations after serving three terms as mayor of the city of Broomfield.

Stuart specializes in transportation issues, public process, public-private partnerships and funding options and has more than 15 years experience in municipal and county government. Among her accomplishments, Stuart was instrumental in the development and implementation process that created Broomfield County.

JCB’s Gina McAfee has been selected by the Transportation Research Board, with the approval of the chairman of the National Research Council, to serve as a member of the NRC’s Committee for a Review of U.S. Department of Transportation Study and Implementation of Changes to the Section 4(f) Process.

McAfee has 30 years of experience in environmental planning for transit, highway, railroad and land development projects. She is an industry-recognized expert in National Environmental Protection Agency document preparation for the Departments of Transportation, Federal Transit Authority and Federal Highway Authority projects, most of which have included analysis of Section 4(f) impacts. She has worked in 23 different states preparing NEPA documents, primarily for the USDOT.

Kennedy/Jenks Consultants recently announced the appointment of Patrick T. Huston as director of the firm’s Water Environment Group. In this new position, Huston will provide strategic leadership and development of the firm-wide water environment practice and oversight of client service and project development activities.

Huston attended San Diego State University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering. He is registered as a professional engineer in California and is a certified Water Treatment Plant Operator. He is a member of the American Public Works Association, where he was a past president of the Ventura County Chapter, and he has been published in several technical journals.

Smith Seckman Reid Inc., an engineering design and facility consulting firm, has promoted Jim Edwards and hired Chris Miller as vice presidents in the firm’s Denver office.

Edwards is responsible for the overall management of a multi-discipline design team of project managers, engineers and engineering technicians. His areas of expertise include heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, as well as hydronic and steam systems.

Miller manages the low voltage design team for SSR’s southwestern division. With expertise in health care construction, master planning and information technology, Miller is a certified professional in healthcare information and management systems.

Nolte Associates Inc. recently announced the appointment of Murray McBride, Todd Beers and Travis Easton to associates in the Rocky Mountain region. Associates have ownership in the firm, serve on Nolte’s Leadership Council and assist the principals/vice presidents in managing firm-wide operations and planning. Selection is based on the individual’s dedication to the company’s philosophy, performance and effectiveness in serving clients and working with other team members.

McBride is the Denver office director and has 30 years of experience with an emphasis in the design and management of transportation, storm drainage, water and sewer utility, and related infrastructure projects.

Beers is the group director of survey for the Denver survey teams. Beers is a licensed Professional Land Surveyor in three states with 27 years of land-surveying experience.

Easton is an engineering manager in Colorado Springs. With more than 12 years of experience, he has managed a multitude of development and capital improvement projects, project teams, designed infrastructure, prepared grading plans and managed both contractors and consultants.

McBride, Beers and Easton are three of 10 employees firm wide who were recently appointed to associate.

Former Lakewood Mayor Steve Burkholder has joined Olsson Associates of Lakewood as a member of the business development advisory committee.

Burkholder served two terms as mayor of Lakewood. Before serving as mayor, he was a member of the Lakewood City Council. He is a former president of the Colorado Municipal League and a former vice-chairman of the Metro Mayors Caucus. While mayor of Lakewood, Burkholder was instrumental in the redevelopment of the former Villa Italia Mall at Wadsworth and Alameda into the current Belmar neighborhood.

He has studied topics such as urban design, e-government, municipal finance, affordable housing, urban leadership and democratic governance and homeland security.