CU Engineering Faculty Honored for Innovation/Power

Motive Corp. Appoints New President/New Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau Chief Named

Two CU-Boulder engineering faculty received the National Academy of Engineering’s 2008 Bernard M. Gordon Prize.

University of Colorado at Boulder faculty members Lawrence Carlson and Jacquelyn Sullivan have received the National Academy of Engineering’s top educational honor, the 2008 Bernard M. Gordon Prize, recognizing innovation in engineering and technology education.

The $500,000 award honors them for being the founders of the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program at CU-Boulder, which encourages hands-on learning throughout K-16 engineering education. The prize was presented Feb. 19 at a gala dinner in Washington, D.C.

Carlson retired as co-director of the ITL Program last fall but remains active as a professor of mechanical engineering at CU-Boulder. Sullivan continues to serve as co-director of the program and director of K-12 engineering education.

Civic activist and former Denver City Councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt was recently recognized by the Jane Silverstein Ries Foundation with its annual award. The honor was presented to Barnes-Gelt for her “pioneering sense of awareness and stewardship of land use values in the Rocky Mountain region.” 

The foundation is named for Silverstein Ries, Colorado’s first female landscape architect, and was founded by members of the Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Barnes-Gelt writes about urban affairs, design and politics for the The Denver Post; appears in “Head On” on KBDI Channel 12 public television, consults with designers and urban developers, and serves on various community boards and advisory committees. She served eight years on the Denver City Council, chairing the land use committee for most of her tenure.

Power Motive Corp. recently announced that Bob Davis has been named president. In his new position, Davis is responsible for setting the strategic direction for the company and for overseeing day-to-day operations.

Davis has served as vice president of operations for the past six years at Power Motive. He joined when ownership at the company was expanded to include management. With more than 20 years of experience in the heavy machinery industry, Davis has helped Power Motive increase its growth and develop expanded product support programs for dealerships.

Annette Quintana, CEO of Istonish, a privately held, Colorado-based professional services company that provides outsourcing, information technology solutions and staffing, has been named the 2008 chair of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. She replaces Rus Heise, senior vice president of RBC Dain Rauscher.

As chair, Quintana leads a 40-member board of directors that oversees the operations of the bureau, a nonprofit trade association with more than 1,100 private business members charged with marketing Denver as a convention and leisure destination. Quintana is a Colorado native raised in Colorado Springs. She attended Colorado State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.

Zeel Patel, marketing manager at HDR’s Denver office, was honored with Women’s Transportation Seminar Colorado’s Emerging Leader of the Year 2007 Award. The award is given to an individual who demonstrates growing leadership skills within the chapter, shows promise in making a contribution to the transportation industry and has been an active and visible participant in the chapter.

Patel’s volunteer efforts on behalf of WTS Colorado have helped the chapter become one of the strongest chapters in the international organization. Patel was honored on Feb. 6 at the chapter’s awards gala at Mile High Station in Denver.

Bryce Ballew of Jordy Construction recently passed the LEED exam and received his designation as a LEED-accredited professional. Ballew is a project engineer and holds a construction management degree from Colorado State University.

Local land-use and planning expert Marilee Utter was recently honored with the 2007 Service Award of The Counselors of Real Estate at the organization’s annual convention in San Francisco.

As president of Denver-based Citiventure Associates LLC, Utter has 25 years of experience solving land-use problems for public agencies and private developers across the United States. In the local Denver market, she has conducted a number of high-profile, complex projects such as the master planning and zoning of the 165-acre railyard in Denver’s Central Platte Valley, the redevelopment of the 350,000-sq-ft historic downtown Denver Dry Building and the transition of the old Cinderella City mall into a transit-oriented town center with one million sq ft of mixed-use development.

Ron Teck joined Olsson Associates’ Lakewood office as a business development manager for the Colorado region. Teck has 14 years of public service experience, including serving as a state senator for District 7 from 1999 until 2006, and as the Mesa County assessor from 1992 until 1999.  

Mike Golden, president of MW Golden Constructors of Castle Rock, was recently elected to a three-year term as a national director of the American Institute of Constructors.

Golden has been a member of AIC since 1972 and previously served as a national director from 1997 to 2000. He has more than 34 years of experience in the construction industry.

The Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce recently announced the appointment of Denise Maes—a partner with Berenbaum, Weinshienk and Eason PC—as chair of the DHCC Board of Directors effective Jan. 1.

Maes succeeds Luis Colón, general manager of Colón Collawn, who has led the chamber as its chairman for the past year.

Tim Padilla, senior vice president with Wells Fargo, was also recently elected chair-elect of the board. With this position, he will also assume the role as chairman of the DHCC’s 501(c)3 arm, the Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation.

Elected as new members of the DHCC board of directors were Maria Arias of Comcast, Martha Award of Merrill Lynch, Chris Bray of Delphic Investigative Services, Mauricio Cárdenas of Coors Brewing Co., Laura English of United Healthcare, Artiesha Maes of PradoMaes LLC, John Soto of VCG Holding Corp., Douglas Van De Zwaag of US Bank and Stephanie Villafuerte from the state of Colorado.

The Jefferson Economic Council elected its 2008 officers in December: Karen Lind, executive director of Elk Valley Public Improvement Corp., is JEC’s board chair; Kristen Anderson, senior vice president for Wells Fargo, will serve as vice chair; Mike McGinnis, a partner with Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Schreck, was elected treasurer; and Mike Partheymuller, a vice president with Carma Colorado was elected secretary. Jeff Keller, president of Asphalt Paving Co., will continue to serve on the board in the position of past chair.

Keith Morse, a senior estimator with Denver’s JE Dunn Construction, recently received recognition as a Designated Design-Build Professional by the Design-Build Institute of America. This designation identifies Morse as a professional with a qualified and quantified level of expertise in design-build.

Morse sits on the executive council for DBIA Rocky Mountain as the Programs Committee Chair for 2008, focusing on gaining and sharing expertise in all aspects of the design-build process.