May 2008

Award-winning team

“The Aviation team has done a fantastic job and it shows in the quality of their projects and the satisfaction of our clients,” said Andy Platz, Vice President and Group Leader for Aviation Services at Mead & Hunt.  “We are very proud of the awards and accolades received by the team in the past few months.”

Mead & Hunt’s 50 years of work developing Dane County Regional Airport won American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Wisconsin’s top Wonders of Wisconsin Engineering award for the southwest area.  ACEC also awarded Mead & Hunt the Excellence in Engineering award for environmental work at Dane County Regional Airport.  ACEC Wisconsin is the business voice of the Wisconsin consulting engineering industry whose mission is to enhance business opportunities for member firms.  ACEC Wisconsin celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007-08 with a series of celebrations that culminated in a special award program, Wonders of Engineering, in addition to their annual Excellence in Engineering award competition.  Both awards are designed to highlight and celebrate achievements in engineering.

As part of an exemplary team, Mead & Hunt’s work on the General Mitchell Concourse C eight–gate expansion project was recognized by the Daily Reporter and Wisconsin Builder magazine as one of 25 Top Projects of 2007 at a ceremony on April 29.  The Top Projects awards recognize projects that faced and overcame significant challenges, used new materials and techniques, or made important contributions to the community they serve.  One hundred were identified as Top Projects, with 25 ranked as the most significant.

Lisa Kinsman, P.E., was recognized as Engineer of the Year by the Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA) during the 2008 Aviation Awards Program on May 7.  Kinsman has been with Mead & Hunt since 1999, primarily involved with projects at air carrier and general aviation airports in the Midwest.  Over the past year, Kinsman has helped with several projects at Dane County Regional Airport such as the terminal ramp expansion and new general aviation development.  However, her primary focus is leading projects the La Crosse Municipal Airport.  Her past projects include reconstructing Runways 18/16 and 13/31, overseeing numerous taxiway and ramp paving projects, and coordinating a new airfield lighting project.  During the past year, Kinsman has been designing the intersection of Runways 36 and 3 to meet new FAA safety requirements.  In addition, Kinsman has been leading the development of a new $12 million Taxiway F that will move aircraft from the air carrier ramp to Runway 18.  This project required extensive and careful coordination with agencies to navigate through a detailed environmental process, along with working with landowners to locate an environmental mitigation site.  This is currently one of the most environmentally complex airport projects in Wisconsin. 

Helena Ziegler was recognized with the WAMA Distinguished Service award, for her outstanding contribution to Wisconsin aviation.  For the past three years, she has assisted with the Wisconsin Aviation Conference developing the event program and graphics, and creating a visual presentation acknowledging conference sponsors and exhibitors.  Annually, Ziegler creates conference programs that have resulted in dramatic and significant improvements to the event.  She produces posters recognizing event sponsors, designs conference programs and registration forms, and develops online versions for the WAMA Web site.  Ziegler’s attention to detail and rapid turnaround has significantly improved the quality of the conference. 

Mead & Hunt was awarded the Asphalt Pavement Association of Michigan’s Award of Excellence for 2007.  The association and the Michigan DOT presented the award for Mead & Hunt’s design of the Taxiway B relocation project at Kalamazoo—Battle Creek International Airport.  The project was a result of the existing taxiway failing to meet FAA design standards for runway to taxiway centerline separation.  The $3.1 million project involved the removal of the existing taxiway and construction of a new 3,500–foot by 50-foot air carrier taxiway with 20–foot paved shoulders and medium intensity taxiway lights in a new location.  Paving projects submitted are evaluated based upon criteria such as the pavement appearance, ride, texture uniformity, longitudinal and traverse joints, edges, approaches, utility covers, and the degree of difficulty of the project.

Mead & Hunt provides professional services in architecture, historic preservation, transportation, municipal infrastructure, and water resources engineering to clients throughout the US.  Mead & Hunt was recognized as one of the fastest rising architectural and engineering firms by the Zweig Letter Hot Firm list; the corporation remains strong on Engineering News Record’s Top 500 design firm list.  Mead & Hunt, named by CE News as one of the top 10 engineering companies to work for in the nation, is employee–owned with about 350 people in offices nationwide.