New staff appointed to key positions
Four leadership positions have recently been filled at the Mankato District 7 office of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The new principal engineers lead the areas of land management, traffic, materials and construction.
Scott Thompson has been working in traffic engineering since 2010 and has been appointed District 7 Traffic Engineer. He holds degrees in civil engineering, land surveying and geomatics engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He joined the Mankato staff in 2008 and obtained his registration as a professional engineer in 2011.
Dan Pirkl will transfer from the Owatonna MnDOT office to become the Mankato Resident (Construction) Engineer on Wednesday, October 7. Dan has been managing construction projects for MnDOT since 2013 and has 14 years of prior experience designing and constructing projects with the City of Owatonna. He holds a masters’ degree in civil engineering from South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. Dan replaces Charlie Kremer who transferred to the materials section.
Kremer accepted the District 7 Materials Engineer position this summer after John Hager transferred to the Willmar MnDOT office as the Traffic Engineer. Kremer has been in several positions over the past 10 years at the Mankato MnDOT office working in construction and maintenance. He holds a degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota.
Glen Coudron is transitioning from project management to the District Land Management Engineer in Mankato as Rollin Sinn plans his retirement. Glen joined the Mankato staff in 2012 has managed projects including the Highway #22 Mankato roundabouts and Highway #60 four-lane expansion. Prior to MnDOT, Glen worked 15 years in the private sector as a consulting engineer. He received his bachelor’s in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 1997.
The Mankato office is the headquarters for MnDOT District 7, which is responsible for over 1,300 miles of highways and bridges in 13 counties in south-central and southwestern Minnesota. For more info on District 7 visit www.dot.state.mn.us/d7/
