City Engineers Association of Minnesota
UPCOMING EVENTS

2025 CEAM ANNUAL CONFERENCE
January 29 – January 31, 2025
Join us at the Double Tree in Bloomington for opportunities to see how other cities are using new technologies and developing innovative construction projects, as well as a chance to network with other professionals and peers.
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bloomington
7800 Normandale Blvd, Bloomington, MN 55439
2025 CONFERENCE KEYNOTE
World Authority on Complaining
Wednesday, January 29th
As the World Authority on Complaining, Will teaches a powerful and simple framework that your audience will both remember and use. Weaving inspiring stories and humor along with life-changing information, Will teaches how to identify the real reason behind every complaint AND what to say to spin that complaint into a positive contribution. After decades of unprecedented sales success in insurance, broadcasting, and advertising, on July 23, 2006 Will Bowen’s life changed forever…and so did the lives of tens of millions of people (so far).
On that day, Will invited 250 people to try and break the negative habit of complaining by going 21 consecutive days without uttering a single gripe.

Will Bowen
Keynote Speaker
2025 Keynote – Information coming soon!
REGISTRATION
Conference Registration Fees
- $450: Full/Associate Members – Conference Only
(All-access to the conference Wednesday, 1/29 – Friday, 1/31 – Including both receptions.) - $400: Affiliate Members – Conference Only
(All-access to the conference Wednesday, 1/29 – Thursday, 1/30 – Including both receptions.) - $50: If Affiliate members would like to include Friday, 1/31
(You must be registered for Wednesday and Thursday.)
Annual CEAM Membership + Conference Registration
Participants may also pay for their Annual CEAM membership ($100 for Full/Associate, $75 for Affiliate) while registering for the conference.
Information about CEAM membership is available here.
- $550: Conference ($450) + CEAM Full/Associate Membership Renewal ($100)
- $475: Conference ($400) + CEAM Affiliate Membership Renewal ($75)
Lifetime Members
Those who want PDHs and anyone not renewing a CEAM Membership.
- $450: Conference ONLY
Includes the registration fee ($450) only.
CEAM Membership Renewals Only.
Does not include access to Annual Conference.
- $100: Full/Associate CEAM Membership Renewal Only
- $75: Affiliate CEAM Membership Renewal Only
2025 SESSION SCHEDULE
Filters
Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025
Sessions
Profiting From A Complaint Free Workplace
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
MnDOT Safe Systems Approach
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
Easement Acquisition 101
Location: Atrium 6
Speakers:
Profiting From A Complaint Free Workplace: Deep Dive
Location: Atrium 4
Speakers:
Infrastructure Funding Strategies for Local Improvements
Location: Plaza 1
Speakers:
Managing the Public Right-of-Way
Location: Plaza 2
Speakers:
Traffic Safety and Speed Camera Enforcement Overview
Location: Plaza 4
Speakers:
Engage & Evolve: Engineering with Community in Mind
Location: Plaza 5
Speakers:
Navigating the storm: Increasing rainfall and flood modeling/prediction tools
Location: Plaza 6
Speakers:
Engineering Inclusion: How Equity Work Creates an Environment Where Everyone Can Thrive
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
Looking Ahead to the 2025 Legislative Session
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
What is Up With Minnesota Speed Limits - Minnesota's Speed Limits Vision in Motion
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
Thursday, Jan 30, 2025
Sessions
Describe, Explain, and Predict: Making Sense of the 2024 Election
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
Case Studies – Projects that ended in Litigation and what we can learn
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
Ethics: What were they thinking? Case studies on engineers gone bad.
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
Beyond the Blueprints: Effective Resident Communication for Engineers & Staff
Location: Atrium 4
Speakers:
Construction Hot Topics for the 2025 Construction Season
Location: Plaza 1
Speakers:
Communications Plan 101
Location: Plaza 2
Speakers:
Quick Tips for Preparing for the Media
Location: Plaza 4
Speakers:
Climate Resilience: Strengthening Our Communities for a Changing Future
Location: Plaza 5
Speakers:
RFPs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Location: Plaza 6
Speakers:
Turning Tension into Triumph – Strategies for Managing Conflict and Difficult Meetings
Location: Atrium 6
Speakers:
Your Roadmap to BMPs for Linear Projects: Planning, Design, Construction, Maintenance, and Reporting
Location: Atrium 4
Speakers:
Communications for Mitigating and De-escalating Tense Projects/People
Location: Plaza 1
Speakers:
Elevate Your Pavement Game: Pavement Management Strategies for Cities of All Sizes
Location: Plaza 2
Speakers:
PROWAG and ADA Updates
Location: Plaza 4
Speakers:
Sanitary Sewer Lateral Lining - Lessons Learned
Location: Plaza 5
Speakers:
GIS and Asset Management Applications for Municipal Engineers and Technicians
Location: Plaza 6
Speakers:
Speaking with Impact: The Power of Effective Public Speaking
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
Friday, Jan 31, 2025
Sessions
Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): What City Engineers Need to Know
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
AI: What it is and how will it impact our industry?
Location: Ballroom
Speakers:
Ali Timpone
Ali Timpone is the HR Director for the City of Plymouth and has over 21 years of public sector human resources experience. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management with a Human Resources concentration from St. Cloud State University and a Master's degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Ali lives in the metro with her husband and two elementary-aged kids, who only occasionally respond well to her expert leadership techniques.
Alida Tieberg
Alida Tieberg is a communications coordinator with the League of Minnesota Cities, promoting member services and events through traditional and digital channels. Previously, she worked for a local government website company and on various political campaigns. She holds a Bachelor's degree in political science and journalism from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
Amber Jacobson
Amber Jacobson is the Experience & Engagement Manager with the City of Burnsville. She has been working in the government engagement field for over 15 years.
Anne Finn
Anne Finn is intergovernmental relations director for the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC). Since 2000, she has represented the League and its member cities before the state legislature and other levels of government on issues involving public safety, transportation, public pensions and local decision-making authority. Anne’s background includes a combination of legislative and local government experience. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from the College of Saint Benedict and a Master of Arts degree in public administration from Hamline University.
Ashley Klemer
Ashley is the City of Bloomington’s main writer and photographer. She assists with media relations and produces and edits content for two newsletters, annual reports, press releases, and social media posts. She’s passionate about showing the human side of local government and making connections between communities through storytelling.
Bob Simons
Graduated from the University of MN - Twin Cities with a bachelors degree in Civil Engineering. I currently lead the Street Design & Infrastructure area of Engineering at the City of Bloomington and have been working in the industry for nearly 20 years.
Brandon Barnes
Brandon is a Vice President and Senior Water Resources Engineer with Barr Engineering Company and has more than 18 years of experience providing a wide range of water-resource management services. A highly regarded hydrologic and hydraulic modeler, his project work includes design of municipal storm sewer systems, coincidental-frequency analyses, flood-protection, floodplain, drainage, and watershed-improvement projects. He enjoys evaluating existing systems and identifying strategies to optimize system performance to improve system resiliency and reduce flood risk.
Brian Hansen
Brian is the Development Coordinator and ROW Permit Manger for the City of Bloomington. He has been with the City for 19 years. In 2024 he oversaw the permitting of approximately 700,000 fr of pipe and conduit with a majority of that being fiber optic construction.
Brian Rivers
Brian is a compliance engineer with MDH who is implementing the PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation in Minnesota. Brian coordinates monitoring, data review, and public outreach while responding to compliance questions related to the new rule. He's also involved in updating the PFAS Interactive Dashboard and MDH's internal database.
Brian Sorenson
For 6 years, Brian Sorenson has been the State Traffic Engineer with MnDOT’s Office of Traffic Engineering (OTE), which provides statewide guidance and support in the areas of Signing, Signals & Lighting, Traffic Standards, Pavement Markings, Work Zones, and Traffic Safety. Brian also serves as one of three co-chairs of Minnesota’s Towards Zero Deaths program, and as vice-chair of the Advisory Council on Traffic Safety. Prior to joining MnDOT, Brian had the privilege of working directly with the cities during his tenure with both the Scott County and Dakota County Transportation Departments, and is a proud alum of South Dakota State University (Go Jacks!).
Chelsea McCullough
Chelsea McCullough focuses on the intersection of ethical AI, smart cities, and the social good. She is the Founder of Digi.City, a Director for Smart Cities Connect, and a researcher for Good Systems at the University of Texas at Austin. Chelsea is an NSF NRT Fellow in Ethical AI and is pursuing her PhD in Information Science at UT Austin.
Chris LaBounty
Chris has been serving as the Public Works/Engineering Director for the City of Maple Grove over the last year. His previous work experience includes supporting cities of all sizes through both public and private experience, most recently serving as the Deputy Public Works Director/City Engineer for the City of Plymouth. Chris is a proud husband, father of two, and graduate of Marquette University.
Cindy Voigt
Cindy Voigt is a licensed professional engineer with a B.S in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Cindy is currently employed as Duluth’s “City Engineer”. She serves on multiple LRRB Committees and is active with State Aid Rules and the Screening Board. She has had a successful run obtaining both Federal and LRIP grants in the last few years.
Dave Bartholomay
Dave Bartholomay is a mediator, a public sector leadership consultant, and a Mayor. In each of those roles he has faced conflict and tension, so he is well-versed on making messy situations better whether that is with staff, with elected officials, or with the public. He is in his 20th year as the Mayor of Circle Pines and has served Governors and Congressmen, so he knows and appreciates the particular challenges of working in the public sector.
Dave Wisniewski
David Fenley
David Fenley has been with the Minnesota Council on Disability since 2014. He transitioned from legislative work to ADA education and outreach throughout Minnesota. David, a certified access specialist, informs entities across the state about disability rights, ADA obligations, Minnesota’s Accessibility Code, and digital accessibility.
David Schultz
Deb Heiser
Don Reeder
Don Reeder is the Public Affairs Coordinator for the League of Minnesota Cities where he provides communication consulting services for member cities. Don is also a frequent presenter, writer, and media relations specialist who loves coffee, nonfiction books, and dogs.
Emily Jennings
Emily is a senior professional engineer specializing in municipal, industrial and construction stormwater permitting, hydraulic and hydrological analysis, permanent stormwater management facility design and stormwater conveyance modeling and design, including roadways and ditches. Emily's project experience includes stormwater related feasibility studies, planning, analysis, final design, and construction. Emily has extensive experience in assisting clients with maintaining compliance with stormwater regulation, policy, and infrastructure.
Erin Anderson Wenz
Erin has over 27 years of experience working on projects involving hydrology and hydraulics, including both stormwater and lake water quality management for watershed districts and municipalities. She has managed strategic lake management plans as well as total maximum daily load (TMDL) studies for Minnesota water bodies. Her project work also includes the creation of watershed and municipal stormwater management plans and the design and construction of low-impact development features such as rain gardens, biofiltration basins, porous pavement, and tree trenches for both large and small retrofit sites. Erin has also worked on climate change adaptation plans, flood risk reduction studies and their related project implementation. Erin is also trained in applying the Envision™ Sustainable Infrastructure Rating System to projects.
Ethan Fawley
Ethan manages City of Minneapolis Vision Zero work to get to zero traffic deaths and severe injuries. He is the project manager for the Minneapolis traffic safety camera pilot and was involved in shaping details for the pilot's legislative authority. Ethan grew up on a gravel road outside of Moorhead and now lives with his wife and 10-year old son in Minneapolis.
George Bender
Mr. Bender has been the Assistant City Engineer over the last 7 years for the City of Chanhassen. He previously worked for private engineering firms and has been in the engineering industry for a total of 28 years. George works closely in regards to the pavement management strategies utilized by the Chanhassen.
Heather Hegi
Heather is the GIS Specialist for the City of Golden Valley and has been building out their GIS and Asset Management program since 2010. She is a 2011 graduate of the Masters of GIS program at the University of Minnesota. She works closely with Engineering and Public Works staff to develop ways to perform work more efficiently, and to provide better data for decision makers using GIS and Asset Management.
Jack Sullivan
Jack Sullivan is an engineering project manager with the City of St. Louis Park. His focus is improving the city’s municipal infrastructure with an emphasis on multi-modal projects that provide a variety of options for people to make their way around the city comfortably, safely and reliably.
Jason Egerstrom
Since joining the City of Woodbury in 2001, Jason has led communications efforts on numerous infrastructure projects, including the construction of a water treatment plant currently underway. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and previously spent time working with the Associated Press and the Kansas City Chiefs public relations department. He is a longtime member of the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators, serving on the board from 2010-2013.
Jeffrey Coleman
Jeff Coleman is a licensed engineer and practiced as a structural engineer, he is a licensed attorney and has represented engineers and practiced construction law for 40 years. He is the only attorney who is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute and served as the ACI President in 2020-2021. He has been involved with many significant cases including the 35W bridge collapse, the Florida FIU bridge collapse, Stillwater bridge, I-74 bridge/Quad Cities, Notre Dame Football Stadium and the Duluth Aquarium. He is also not just a private pilot, he is a seaplane pilot.
Jessie Dehn
Graduated from Minnesota State Mankato and has since worked for government, from rural highways in oil country in North Dakota to ultra urban toll ways in Houston. Now since worked in counties and cities back home in Minnesota, spending the last two years as City Engineer in Brainerd. Still hates snow...
John Garrity
John is the MnDOT Bituminous Engineer. He has been with MnDOT for 34 yrs. and he is a graduate of North Dakota State University.
Jon Herdegen
Jon is a professional engineer with over 20 years experience serving municipalities throughout Minnesota with planning, designing and administering public works projects. As the City Engineer for the City of Newport, Jon has overseen several projects aimed at reducing excessive infiltration and inflow into the City's sanitary sewer collection system and most-recently managed the Lateral Lining Improvements project highlighted during today's presentation.
Justin Black, Sr.
Over the past 25 years, Justin has served as city engineer for small cities in greater Minnesota. Working with small cities that have limited staff and resources Justin has assisted in developing pavement management plans that allow cities to plan for future pavement and maintenance and improvement projects.
Justin Femrite
Justin has worked as Elk Rivers City Engineer for the last 15-years. In that time, he has helped navigate a variety of city led initiatives that have needed various levels of community engagement. Justin is excited to share some of the strategies that have been successful for Elk River’s various initiatives.
Kenneth Johnson
Ken E. Johnson is an Assistant State Traffic Engineer in MnDOT’s Office of Traffic Engineering. He has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a Masters of Infrastructure Systems Engineering – both degrees from the University of Minnesota. He has worked for MnDOT since 1992 in a variety of areas – including Project Development, Design, Surveys & Right of Way – though most of his experience has been in Traffic Engineering. He's a member of the Institute of Traffic Engineers and the American Traffic Safety Services Association.
Kristie Billiar
Kristin Asher
Kristin Asher is the Director of Public Works at the City of Richfield and a licensed Professional Engineer. She has worked with the City of Richfield for the past 21 years, much of that time was spent working on ways to deliver the 77th Street Underpass. Until 2021, when she handed off the delivery of the project to her engineering staff, never to speak of it again…. until today.
Kristin Petersen
Kristin brings over 18 years of experience leading community engagement and public outreach for transportation and infrastructure projects across Minnesota and surrounding areas. As an AICP Certified Planner with a Master’s degree in Architecture, she combines technical expertise with innovative strategies to create effective and inclusive engagement tools. A passionate advocate for meaningful stakeholder involvement, Kristin is dedicated to fostering collaboration, breaking down communication barriers, and supporting successful community investment and growth.
Laura Jensen
In her current role as the Energy & Sustainability Manager at DMC EDA, Lauren provides technical assistance on sustainable building guidelines for development projects - ranging from multi-family buildings to public realm improvements. Prior to joining DMC EDA in 2024, Lauren worked with the City of Rochester for four years as their first Sustainability Coordinator. She oversaw the development and implementation of the City's Sustainability & Resiliency Community Work Plan, ensuring the triple bottom line of sustainability was integrated citywide.
Linnea Savereide
Linnea Savereide is an engineer in the stormwater section at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. She is a member of the Resilient Communities grants team.
Logan Vlasaty
I have worked for Minnesota cities for my entire 9-year career, and currently for the City of Burnsville which prioritizes communication and community engagement.
Mara Peterson
Mara Peterson is an independent accessibility consultant with over 20 years of experience in the field. Projects include assessments of existing sites and facilities as part of self-evaluation and transition plan development for Title II entities and barrier removal plan development for Title III entities as well as plan reviews of new construction and alteration projects.
Marc Culver
Marc currently serves as the City Engineer for the City of Brooklyn Park, a role he started in July of 2024. Prior to Brooklyn Park Marc worked with Bolton & Menk. He spend 9 years with the City of Roseville as the City Engineer and the Public Works Director building off of his 11 years at the City of Maple Grove in the role of Transportation Operations Engineer. Marc served as the President of CEAM in 2017 and has served as the Chair of the Legislative Committee since 2019. You can find Marc nerding out about Public Works on his podcast, the Public Works Nerds.
Maria Masten
Maria Masten is the MnDOT Concrete Engineer. She is a registered engineer in the State of MN and has worked for MnDOT primarily in the Concrete Office for 29 years. Ms. Masten is actively involved in many national concrete related committees.
Mark Hansen
Mark Hansen is the City Engineer for the City of Coon Rapids, where he has served for the past 10 years. With 25 years of experience spanning both the public and private sectors, Mark brings extensive expertise in civil engineering, infrastructure planning, municipal project management, and right of way oversight and permitting.
Mark Vizecky
Mark led the development and implementation of the initiative to establish a statewide vision for speed limits, utilizing his expertise in traffic engineering and policy development. The two diverse project teams successfully developed a statewide vision that balances engineering, safety, and surrounding land use with an emphasis on all users.
Mark Wagner
Mark has worked in MnDOT’s Office of Traffic Engineering Safety Section since early 2020 where his work includes administration and distribution of Highway Safety Improvement Plan funding, county and statewide systemic safety planning, safety research and evaluations, as well as various crash analyses. Prior to joining the Safety Section, Mark worked in Metro Traffic group for about a year and a half in addition to 10 years in consulting.
Marty Doll
Marty is the Communications Practice leader for engineering consulting firm, AE2S. Based out of the company's Bismarck, ND office, he assists government clients throughout the Midwest with strategic communications, marketing, branding, community outreach, public relations, planning and economic development initiatives. Prior to joining AE2S and moving "back home" to North Dakota in 2022, Marty spent nearly 20 years in local government, working as the Community & Economic Development Director for Victoria, MN; Communications & Community Engagement Director for Burnsville, MN; and in the communications departments in Edina and Anoka County throughout his career.
Matt Hardegger
Matt has been Richfield's Transportation Engineer since 2023. As part of his role, he manages grant identification and pursuits for local transportation projects.
Matt Yokiel
I have spent 19 years in Public Works between Hastings and Newport. I started as an engineering technician drafting reconstruction plans and performing construction inspection and advanced to Superintendent for the City of Newport. Newport is a small city of around 4,000 people on the Mississippi River. One of the largest issues in Newport is infiltration into clay sanitary sewer mains installed in the mid 60's.
Michael Corbett
Michael is a true "plan-gineer" with over 20 years of industry experience. He earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from the U of M, and went onto engineering and planning stints with major consulting firms. Michael has done a variety of planning and engineering work ranging from long-range investment planning to delivering construction projects. His most rewarding work during the past 13 years at MnDOT has been serving as a liaison between MnDOT and the Met Council on planning activities, and doing communications and engagement work in Ramsey County and the City of St. Paul.
Nancy Daubenberger
Nancy Daubenberger has served as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation since May 2022. Prior to her appointment, Nancy held several leadership and engineering roles during more than 25 years with the agency, including as Deputy Commissioner and Chief Engineer, Assistant Commissioner for Engineering Services, and State Bridge Engineer. She also previously held planning, project management and design roles with the MnDOT Bridge Office and Metro District. Before coming to MnDOT, she worked in consulting for six years, in both bridge and road design. Nancy holds a master’s degree in civil engineering (with a structural emphasis) from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University.
Nick Lott-Havey
I have worked in GIS and Asset Management at the City level for the last ten years and moved to Metro Transit last August.
Nick Zillman
15 years experience in the trenchless industry. Worked through college as a laborer during the summers working my way up from foreman>superintendent>PM/Estimator> Division Manager.
Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson serves as the Organizational Development and Equity Partner for the City of Plymouth. With a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Leadership, he is dedicated to fostering inclusive work environments where everyone can thrive. Paul resides in Minneapolis with his spouse and their 4-year-old daughter.
Paul Merchlewicz
Prior to being at the City of Inver Grove Heights for the last two years, Paul's experience has gone back and forth between consulting and working for MnDOT. His experience has given him insight on both sides of the RFP process including preparing responses to them and preparing them from the owner's side.
Peter Mikhail
Peter is a shareholder at Kennedy & Graven and has been practicing law for 30 years. He has spent most of the last 2 decades focusing on right of way acquisition. He is a founding member of the Minnesota Eminent Domain Counsel's Association and former president of the Hennepin County Bar Association Eminent Domain Section. He has been repeatedly recognized as a Super Lawyer by Minnesota Law & Politics and is a frequent presenter on the subject of eminent domain.
Phillip Elkin
Phillip A. Elkin, PE, has been the Engineering Services Manager for the City of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, since 2014, where he oversees long-term planning, design, and construction for key public utility projects, including sewer, water, and storm systems. He manages the city’s right-of-way and surface water resources, handles development proposals, and directs capital improvement projects to ensure they meet the city’s needs.
Roberta Cronquist
Roberta is a Project Manager at Bolton & Menk with over 20 years of water resources engineering experience. She specializes in municipal and transportation drainage design, stormwater BMP design and implementation, floodplain management, and regional drainage infrastructure planning. She has a master's degree in civil engineering from San Diego State University with a focus on Water Resources and is a Certified Floodplain Manager.
Ross Hendrickson
Ross is the district 1, 2, 3, & 4 construction support for state aid and federal aid projects since 2018 and prior to that, Ross was in the resident office in Bemidji as a project supervisor. Ross has over 27 years of experience from municipal to highway heavy construction.
Ryan Earp
Ryan is a creative and collaborative strategist with nearly twenty years of experience working in the fields of stakeholder engagement and strategic communications. During this time, Ryan has worked with a variety of private and public sector clients to develop impactful strategic communications plans and execute stakeholder and community engagement initiatives. Ryan is passionate about integrating emerging tools and technologies to meet stakeholder outreach and communications objectives for his clients.
Ryan Stempski
Ryan works as a Senior Project Manager at WSB, and his primary role is serving as the Hastings Public Works Director. In his 23-year career in municipal engineering, Ryan has provided support to several communities facing PFAS as an emerging contaminant. He is a leader and advocate for municipalities dealing with the PFAS crisis.
Scott Marks
Scott has been a police officer for 25 years and is currently a Sergeant with the Minnetonka Police Department where he is the coordinator of the department's Mental Health Unit. He is also a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker providing counseling services to first responders. Scott has been a presenter and coach for Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team for 9 years.
Senator Ann Johnson Stewart
Stacy Harwell
Stacy has over 23 years' experience in floodplain modeling, stormwater management and water resource engineering. She joined Stantec in 2021 as a water resources engineer and currently works in the Digital Center of Excellence at Stantec, which focusses on digital innovation and consulting. She was the MN 2023 Floodplain Manager of the Year and also has served as a commissioner to Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission for the past 12 years.
Stephen Mensah
Stephen serves as a traffic engineer at Stantec with expertise in traffic analysis, highway safety modeling and analysis, intelligent transportation systems planning and systems engineering analysis. Prior to joining Stantec, Stephen was a Research Associate at the Delaware Center for Transportation, University of Delaware. He has also served as a member of the TRB Committee for Application of Emerging Technologies to Design and Construction evaluating emerging technologies for transportation design and construction.
Steve Sampson Brown
Steve is the Director of Construction for the City of Rochester. Steve and his team manage the design and construction of multimodal infrastructure projects within Rochester's urban core. Steve previously worked as project manager for the City of Dubuque, IA on a variety of horizontal and vertical infrastructure projects. He started his career with the Connecticut Department of Transportation as a roadway designer.
Susan Miller
Sue has worked at the city and county level for nearly 30 years before joining SRF. She is a master thief in stealing the best ideas and practices of Minnesota's city and county experts and sharing those solutions to our shared challenges. Her work with the Local Road Research Board spans more than two decades and she is passionate about how the LRRB is a large part of what makes the public servants here in Minnesota true nationwide leaders.
Ted Schoenecker
Ted Schoenecker is likely someone that needs little introduction, but we will still give you one. He hails from the eastern regions of the Twin Cities metro area. He has no qualms about sending emails to the CEAM email list at 6am and expecting a response by 7am. His most favorite things (in addition to his wife and at least 2 out of 3 of his sons) are movie quotes and hair bands music. If he says or writes something that could be taken as serious or sarcastic, it is 100% sarcastic. He knows he swears too much, but sometimes the words just need to be said. Donuts, ice cream and beer are his favorite foods and drinks (and not always in that order).
Tim Plath
Tim is currently the Deputy Public Works Director at the City of Eagan where he has worked for 19 years, including 12 years as the Transportation Operations Engineer. Prior to that, he worked in the private sector for consulting firms in Indiana and the Twin Cities and has over 25 years of experience in transportation and municipal engineering.
Tina McLaughlin
Tina McLaughlin is a Right of Way Specialist II with Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. (SEH®) located in the Rochester office. Tina holds a Resident Real Estate Salesperson license in Minnesota and is an active member of the IRWA. Tina has over 15 years of experience in the A/E/C industry with the past 3 years focusing on land acquisition.
Tod Sherman
Tod Sherman is currently a Planning Director for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Metro District. Tod is also the project manager for the update of MnDOT’s Access Management Manual which will be completed later this year. He is serving on the panel for NCHRP 20-44(51) which involves developing training materials and resources for nationwide implementation of context classifications by state DOTs. Tod has honed his presentation skills with Toastmasters for over 20 years. He served a couple terms as President of the Roseville Area Toastmasters (RAT Pack) as well as the Area 23 Governor. Tod won the Toastmaster’s Humorous Speech contest at the Club, Area, Division, and District Levels for his speech called “The Sweaty Hair Jungle.” This was a true (but exaggerated) story about taking his 15-year-old son to see a thrash metal band called Slayer.
Todd Grugel
Todd Grugel is the ADA Program Engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. In 2010 Todd started MnDOT’s ADA Engineering Unit that oversees accessible pedestrian scoping, design, and construction for all MnDOT highway improvement projects. Currently the unit is supporting MnDOT’s efforts to aggressively complete its ADA Transition Plan in a 20-year timeframe by upgrading curb ramps, sidewalks, and accessible pedestrian signals on both preservation and reconstruction projects emphasizing delivering pedestrian facilities that are constructible, maintainable, and usable.
Tracy Smith
Tracy has a degree in Parks and Recreation and is trained in ToPs facilitation, IAP2 strategies and techniques and the complete charrette process. She has worked for the City of Bloomington for 25 years, and currently supports Parks and Recreation and Public Works to ensure community involvement in department projects. She also is the City of Bloomington's Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator. In her free time, Tracy's enjoys Gopher football games with her two UMN freshman daughters and walks with her two golden retrievers.
Trevor Hamdorf
Deputy Director Hamdorf is a licensed police officer, firefighter, hazardous materials technician, emergency medical technician, and certified emergency manager with the City of New Brighton. He has a Masters Degree in Emergency and Disaster Management and currently serves as a Deputy Team Commander of the Minnesota All Hazards Incident Management Team with National deployments to Hurricane Rita in Louisiana, Hurricane Sandy in New York, Hurricane Irma in Florida, and most recently Iowa for the Greenfield Tornado. In addition to national deployments he has been deployed throughout the State of Minnesota for floods, tornados, civil disturbances, and fires.
Wayne Wegener
Wayne Wegener began his careen in law enforcement in 2004. He is currently the Captain of the Mendota Heights Police Department.
Will Bowen
After decades of unprecedented sales success in insurance, broadcasting, and advertising, on July 23, 2006 Will Bowen’s life changed forever…and so did the lives of tens of millions of people (so far). On that day, Will invited 250 people to try and break the negative habit of complaining by going 21 consecutive days without uttering a single gripe. Will gave each person a purple bracelet to be used as a mindfulness tool. His idea: switch the bracelet from wrist-to-wrist with each spoken complaint and keep switching until you go 21 consecutive days without complaining. Will’s idea EXPLODED around the world until now, some 15 years later, the worldwide Complaint Free bracelet total is over 15 million and climbing.
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2025 Planning Committee
Mark DuChene, President City of Faribault
Debra Heiser, Co-Chair City of St. Louis Park
Eric Seaburg, Co-Chair Bolton & Menk, Inc.
Greg Anderson, SEH
George Bender, City of Chanhassen
Dan Boyum, Stantec
Dan Coyle, Kimley-Horn and Associates
Marc Culver, Bolton & Menk, Inc.
Jen Desrude, SEH
Steve Dodge, City of St. Paul
Jennifer Edison, WSB & Associates
Kristine Elwood, MnDOT – State Aid
Justin Femrite, City of Elk River
Alex Jordan, City of Shakopee
Janna Kieffer, Barr Engineering
Tony Kutzke, City of Woodbury
Matt Leonard, City of Monticello
Amy Marohn, City of Bloomington
Bob Moberg, 3pm Solutions
Phil Olson, City of Minnetonka
Jennifer Payne, City of Woodbury
Michael Payne, City of Plymouth
Nick Preisler, City of St. Michael
Paul Sandy, WSB & Associates
Chad Setterholm, Short Elliot Hendrickson, Inc.
Bob Simons, City of Bloomington
Brandon Stenglein, City of Maple Grove
Jim Studenski, TKDA
Michael Thompson, City of Plymouth
Steve Winter, MSA Professional Services