KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Burns & McDonnell has promoted 22 employee-owners across the U.S. to the Principal Group after a record year of sales in 2020 for the 100% employee-owned engineering, construction and architecture firm. These individuals were instrumental in the continued success of the firm and are helping lead continued growth, as Burns & McDonnell anticipates increasing its employment by 10% in 2021.

Principals are selected based on demonstrated exceptional performance and technical excellence, as well as recognition and anticipation of future leadership roles contributing to the success of Burns & McDonnell.

“Our Principal leaders at Burns & McDonnell bring our ethics and culture to life every day,” says Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO, Burns & McDonnell. “These individuals act as owners at all times, embrace our culture and much more. This designation is an honor but also a responsibility, and I know our new class of Principals is up for the challenge in our time of growth.”

Members of the Burns & McDonnell 2021 class of Principals include the following employee-owners:

Mohammed Aleisa, PE, serves as a projects and account manager in the firm’s Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Group in Chicago. Throughout his nearly 15 years of experience, Aleisa has been involved in hundreds of substation design and construction projects ranging from 4-kV to 765-kV. He leads his team to execute project management, physical design, protection and control design, quality control and construction services for customers regionwide.

Aaron Anderson, PE, serves as director of renewable energy at 1898 & Co., part of Burns & McDonnell. He has nearly 15 years of experience providing financial and engineering analyses to renewable energy clients and has managed thousands of megawatts of renewable energy development throughout the world. Anderson has helped build Burns & McDonnell into a ranked industry leader in wind energy.

Daniel Bayouth, PE, is a project manager and business lane lead in the Networks, Integration & Automation Group at Burns & McDonnell. Bayouth is an associate electrical engineer specializing in communications infrastructure and network architecture, with nearly 20 years of experience in design, construction and operation of mission-critical networks. His projects are now the fiber and wireless communications infrastructure for many electric utilities and carriers across the U.S.

Nathan Benjamin, a department and program manager, leads and executes large-scale design-build projects for manufacturing, retail and commercial clients across the U.S. Benjamin has more than two decades of design and construction experience, supporting multimillion-dollar projects around the world. Throughout his career, he’s taken on many roles: architectural engineer, construction professional, client/account manager, tech entrepreneur, and presenter on environmentally conscious design and construction.

John Bothof, PE, LEED AP, leads the firm's Pacific office team — located in Honolulu — as operations director. He has been with Burns & McDonnell for 14 years, beginning in Kansas City and relocating to Honolulu in 2013. Bothof oversees projects throughout Hawaii and across the Pacific, delivering critical infrastructure solutions for aviation, federal, utility and commercial facility clients.

Patrick Clifford, PE, is regional manager of the firm’s Water Group in the Great Lakes region, serving customers throughout the Upper Midwest. Clifford has more than two decades of water, wastewater, project management, engineering, construction and management experience. Throughout his career, he has supported customers in more than 20 states while successfully building and developing multidisciplinary water and wastewater delivery teams.

Chad Cotter serves as regional manager of construction operations in the St. Louis office and director of solar construction operations firmwide. With over two decades of experience, Cotter’s combined background in mechanical engineering, direct-hire construction and construction management gives him a well-rounded understanding of engineer-procure-construct (EPC) project delivery approaches. He has served hundreds of customers with his ability to envision, engineer and execute major projects.

Jason Hetherington, PE, is managing director of logistics and midstream for the Oil, Gas & Chemical Group, where he focuses on expanding the firm’s midstream, logistics and storage business. He leads a team engaged in large-volume storage, processing, and transportation projects for renewable and petroleum-based products. Hetherington’s role continues the company’s commitment to providing planning, design, procurement, construction, commissioning and startup services for midstream processors and storage terminals, including for crude oil, refined products, LPGs, chemicals, and renewable feedstocks and products.

Emanuele Incorvaia, PE, LEED AP BD+C, PMP, serves as a program and project manager for the Aviation & Federal Group in the Northeast, as well as branch office manager in Morristown, New Jersey. Incorvaia manages the project management team executing major aviation and federal programs, including the Delta Air Lines $4 billion Terminals C and D redevelopment program at LaGuardia Airport. He has supported and managed critical infrastructure projects across the region that have strengthened and supported those communities.

David Kinchen, DBIA, is a regional manager in the Construction/Design-Build Group in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Over the course of more than 30 years, Kinchen has led multidisciplinary teams on critical water, wastewater, power, aviation, healthcare and government projects. He is widely known for his industry experience with collaborative delivery methods currently utilized in the construction industry.

Julee Koncak leads the Burns & McDonnell Foundation and manages the firm's community relations programs, internal communications and events, roles she transitioned into after having spent more than a decade in various capacities of event planning and marketing management. Koncak has been instrumental in driving the firm’s corporate commitment to STEM outreach by establishing key partnerships across the country with local science centers, nonprofits and educators, and by designating more than half of Foundation dollars to support such educational programs in science, technology, engineering and math.

Jeff Kopp, PE, serves as managing director of utility consulting at 1898 & Co., part of Burns & McDonnell. He has 20 years of experience providing consulting services to owners of electric power generation, transmission and distribution assets. Kopp has supported numerous types of engineering and financial analyses for clients to help them increase the value of assets they currently own, develop new assets or acquire value-added assets.

Mike Lombardo, PE, manages a large T&D utility client account, supported by a team of more than 100 employee-owners across multiple disciplines and office locations, specializing in substation, transmission and distribution projects. Additionally, he is responsible for the overall processes, procedures, training and development of the T&D EPC project management group. Lombardo is an electrical engineer with more than 16 years of experience working with clients on electrical substation projects across the U.S.

Pablo L. Lorenzo, PE, LEED AP, leads the Global Facilities Group in California as it designs, commissions and constructs complex facilities for mission-critical, manufacturing, commercial, life sciences, aerospace, and food and consumer products clients. With nearly 20 years of experience, he focuses on growing the business regionwide, executing large programs and leading a team of engineers, designers and construction professionals.

Tara McCullen serves as the Southeast regional practice manager of the Environmental Services Group, based in Atlanta. With more than 25 years of environmental management and regulatory compliance experience, she has supported and managed more than 1,000 environmental and sustainability projects that have helped strengthen and grow communities while protecting the environment. Since joining Burns & McDonnell in 2017, she has grown her team’s staff, revenues and sales by more than 1,000% and expanded the regional client base by more than 50 clients.

Breck McGary serves as manager of the T&D Group for Burns & McDonnell in Mumbai, India. With nearly two decades of experience providing utilities and communities with power infrastructure, McGary now leads a team of more than 250 multidisciplinary professionals supporting execution of high-voltage substation, transmission and distribution projects as well as gas pipeline and utility networks, integration and automation projects around the globe.

Kevin Naujokaitis serves as the mechanical and process department manager within the firm’s Energy Group. He has more than 20 years of experience in the development and startup of electric utility generation and complex industrial facilities.  Naujokaitis has served as a mentor and technical leader for the Energy Group throughout his career and helps customers transform concepts and problem statements into applicable ideas and solutions.

Rick Nye serves as T&D operations manager in the Pacific Northwest. He leads a team of professionals to execute EPC projects, providing communities and utilities with safe, reliable and efficient power systems. Additionally, Nye serves as a senior manager in the Pacific Northwest, leading day-to-day operations, business development and client coordination for a team of more than 50 employee-owners.

Bryan Phillips, PE, spearheads construction services for the Oil, Gas & Chemical Group in Houston. With 20 years of experience, Phillips has led all aspects of chemicals, oil and gas projects, from conceptual design through construction completion and startup and closeout. He recently served as project director for a large refinery construction project in the Upper Midwest with a budget exceeding $350 million. The project was delivered on time and on budget.

Jenna Pukach serves as accounting operations controller within the firm’s finance department. She has nearly 15 years of experience in monitoring and managing financial results for the business, collaborating to define and implement financial goals, and providing guidance on key financial forecasting items for projects worldwide. As a leader on the finance team, Pukach oversees accounting shared services, automation efforts and the financial manager team.

Andrew Reid, PE, serves as regional manager of the firm’s Transportation Group in Texas. Leading a team of more than 40 engineers, scientists and policy professionals, he has supported hundreds of transportation projects, specializing in municipal, highway structural design and construction programs. Reid has been instrumental in the group’s strategic growth and expansion into Central and North Texas markets and is also well versed in design-build delivery of infrastructure projects.

Jason Schaefer, PE, serves as a department manager for the Water Group in the Rocky Mountains. He leads a team of engineers as they design water treatment facilities, helping communities manage their water quality, treatment hydraulics and water demands. He has nearly 15 years of experience, executing greenfield water treatment facilities and complex water treatment facility retrofits, including expansions, and providing design-build projects on time and under budget.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 7,600 engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities with more than 60 offices globally. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned. Learn how we are designed to build.