Hutton Named CDOT's Chief Engineer/Escuela Tlatelolco Honors Abo/Ludvik Crews Earn Industry Praise

Pam Hutton made history at the Colorado Department of Transportation last fall when she was named as the first woman to serve in CDOT's top engineering post in department history. Formerly CDOT's Region 6 director, she was succeeded in that position by Randy Jensen.

Pam Hutton, a 27-year Colorado Department of Transportation employee, was named CDOT's chief engineer last fall - the first woman to serve in CDOT's top engineering post in department history.

Hutton's career at the Colorado Department of Highways, CDOT's predecessor agency, began in 1977 when, as a high school graduate, she joined the department's traffic engineering section as an entry-level Aide A.

Randy Jensen was named CDOT's new regional director for Region 6, succeeding Hutton.

Before his promotion, Jensen, a 29-year CDOT employee, was director of operations and maintenance for Region 6. He also served as Region 6 maintenance superintendent for six years, managing maintenance plans for the 3,850 lane miles in the metro area.

OZ Architecture announced several new staff members in the fall - Michael Whitely, AIA, and Thomas Moenig, AIA, NCARB, architects; Meggan Fadden and Linda Balls, interior designers; Brady Fox, CAD manager; and Lara Conley, marketing coordinator.

Cliff Davis returned to CEI Roofing Colorado as manager for the sheet metal department and architectural sheet metal design division while Brent Wilhelmi was named operations manager.

Another former employee, Mike Gardner, also returned to the company as operations superintendent.

The Abo Group's Ronald Abo, AIA, was presented with "The Spirit of Tlatelolco" business award from Escuela Tlatelolco.

Abo has contributed to the school for Latino youth since the 1960s, when he was an architectural student working with Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales on "his vision for building a community for his people."

Schmueser Gordon Meyer in Glenwood Springs added four new associates - Christine Bechtel and Shannon Ullman, engineers-in-training; Frank McSwain, project manager; and Stephanie Keister, marketing director.

Shahnaz Jaffari, technical assistant for the Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute, earned LEED-accredited professional certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, passing the examination on her first try.

Jaffari, who has a master's degree in construction management, is also a University of Colorado at Denver graduate student of architecture and the former owner of an architectural firm in Iran.

Scott Stevens, PE, joined Drexel, Barrell & Co. as regional manager for the firm's Colorado Springs office. Before joining the firm, he served as public works director and city engineer for the city of Fountain; before that, he worked as a private consulting engineer in Denver and Glenwood Springs.

Dave Eddy, chief estimator for Fransen Pittman General Contractors in Englewood, became a LEED-accredited professional through the U.S. Green Building Council.

Michael Hockett, LEED AP, was promoted to project manager at W.E. O'Neil Construction Co. of Colorado. Hockett joined the company in 2004 as an assistant estimator.

Randy Jordan and Don Chavez, journeyman wiremen at Ludvik Electric Co., were presented by Hensel Phelps Construction Co. with site-wide craftsmanship awards for their work on the Colorado State University Regional Bio Containment Laboratory.

Other Ludvik employees honored this fall included: Rick Hollis and Rob Watkins, recognized by the University of Colorado at Boulder for their work on the CU Wolf Law Building and the ATLAS Center; two crews under superintendents Mike Franklin and Walter Grant, honored by Hoffman Construction for their work on the IM Flash Central Utility Plant project in Lehi, Utah; and Curt Elliott, Ron Weller, Dave Roden and Chris Brockmeyer, recognized by Fluor Corp., also for the IM Flash project, for which Larry Ham is the construction manager.

Five new employees joined ASCG Inc. - architectural interns Ted Orcsik and Jairo Duran; civil engineers Ceila Rethamel, PE, and Bart dela Cruz, PE; and Tina Dotson, project specialist.

Peter Ewers, AIA, received designation as a LEED-accredited professional from the U.S. Green Building Council. Ewers is the founder of Ewers Architecture in Golden.

Senior estimator Chris Haugen and estimator J.R. Keller, both of whom work for Castle Rock-based White Construction Group, earned LEED accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Haugen joined White Construction Group in 1997 as a carpenter and within two years was promoted to project manager. Keller, who joined the firm in 2003, also serves as a project manager.

Kristine Nelson, PE, joined Loris and Associates Inc. in Lafayette as a project engineer assigned to transportation and trail projects.

Tom Parker was promoted to construction administration department manager at Cator, Ruma & Associates.

The firm also named Chuck Kaffine, RCDD, as manager of its new dedicated information technology services department.

Dan Troy was promoted to chief financial officer for JB Henderson Construction Co., which is based in Albuquerque with offices in Rio Rancho, Los Alamos and Colorado Springs.

Alexander Thome, AIA, CDT, LEED AP, was awarded the AIA Denver 2006 President's Award for his work as chairman of the organization's Committee for the Environment.

Thome is an associate at Fentress Bradburn Architects.

Steve Clymer, AIA, was promoted to associate principal at Bahr Vermeer Haecker Architects. He joined the firm in 2004.

Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. named two new associates in Colorado - Bob Jones, PE, and Ray Polkinghorn, PE.

Jones is the aviation regional market center leader in Denver and a member of the Western Region Leadership Team. Polkinghorn specializes in transportation. He also serves as the branch office manager for SEH's Pueblo office.

Also, Harold "Will" Johnson, PE, PTOE, joined the firm as a traffic engineer.

James Rickard, PE, joined Richard P. Arber Associates in Lakewood to manage the firm's new structural engineering services department.

Other new employees at the firm are Danielle Kreachbaum and Leslee Howard, both named to the marketing staff.

Michael Colpack was promoted to senior vice president and manager of the Denver-area office of Kiewit Building Group, the commercial building division of Kiewit Corp.

William Baker, AIA, NCARB, was promoted to managing principal of The Durrant Group Inc. in Denver.

Baker, who leads the justice-related projects studio, joined the firm in 1996. In September, he received Durrant's Norm Wirkler Award for exceptional contribution to profitability and management.

Robert Mahoney was named director of engineering for Denver Water, succeeding Jon Diebel, who retired in April.

Mahoney is active in the American Water Works Association and served as chair of the association's National M32 Committee.

Kari-elin Mock was recently promoted to associate at Hutton Ford Architects PC in Denver.

Paul England was appointed vice president of operations of Aurora-based BonaKemi USA.

Rob Zuber, PE, joined HDR as a water resources project manager in the firm's Denver office.
Before joining the firm, he was a water resources engineer at URS.

Keith Morse was recently appointed senior estimator at JE Dunn Construction in Denver while Brad Himes was named an estimator.

Leah Blumberg, Matt Taylor and Joe Biller joined Boulder-based JVA Inc.

Blumberg works in the administrative department; Taylor is a drafter in JVA's civil engineering department; and Biller is with the firm's structural department at its Winter Park office.

Diane Evans, vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs for Land Title Guarantee Co. in Denver, was elected to the 11-member board of governors for the American Land Title Association, based in Washington, D.C