Advisory Council

VP Americas Fuels — Retired

ExxonMobil Corporation

Steve Blume retired as Vice President, Americas Fuels of ExxonMobil. He began his career with Mobil Oil Corporation in 1980 as a pipeline engineer. After assignments in logistics, financial analysis, sales, marketing, risk management, revenue management, trading and strategic planning, he became the refinery manager for the Singapore refinery in 2002 and Baton Rouge refinery in 2008. Blume finished his career as Vice President of America Fuels with responsibility for the fuels value chain in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America.

Blume currently sits on the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering advisory council at K-State. He graduated from K-State with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering in 1979 and earned his MBA from the University of Texas, Arlington, in 1983.

Along with his wife, Debbie, Blume created a scholarship for first-generation students majoring in engineering at K-State.

Executive Vice President of Sales

Bureau Veritas

Blake Brosa is executive vice president of sales with Bureau Veritas’ North America Building & Infrastructure division, responsible for sales, marketing, strategy and client experience. BVNA offers multi-site real estate owners a single-source solution for new site acquisition, design, construction management and capital planning professional services.

Prior to joining BVNA, Brosa spent seven years with Target Corporation in a variety of corporate real estate, design, store planning, sourcing, construction and property management leadership positions. While he is well versed in retail construction and facilities management, clients specifically benefit from his extensive knowledge in assessing clients’ strategic initiatives, assembling and mobilizing cross-functional teams, leveraging technology and developing scalable programs that are designed to optimize speed-to-market and maximize overall value. Brosa’s corporate construction experience allows him to quickly relate to clients’ challenges, assist in navigating complex issues, and provide unique solutions and cost-saving recommendations throughout the real estate life cycle.

He holds a bachelor’s in construction science and management degree from Kansas State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. Brosa and his wife, Haley, and 18-month-old son, Brooks, reside in Phoenix and thoroughly enjoy getting to the mountains of northern Arizona and southwest Colorado with their two dogs every chance they get.

CEO — Retired

MMC Corp.

Tim Chadwick began his professional career as a project engineer at MW Builders, a national general construction firm. He rose through the ranks quickly to become one of the youngest presidents in company history. Under Chadwick’s leadership, MW Builders became MMC Corp’s most profitable brand, and he was provided the opportunity to advance to chief operating officer of MMC Corp in 2011. Three years later, Chadwick became CEO of MMC Corp. Since 2014, MMC Corp has acquired several companies, opened nine new locations, and tripled in size. In 2023, MMC Corp completed $1.3 billion in revenue. MMC Corp and its three strategic business units stand strong with nearly $1.8 billion in backlog with several strategic growth initiatives on the horizon.

In late 2023, Chadwick announced that after more than 30 years with the company, he would be retiring from his position as CEO in May 2024 and would remain engaged with the company as a member of its board of directors.

Chadwick has been a champion of community engagement and takes pride in the company’s corporate citizenship. During his tenure as CEO, MMC Corp introduced a fifth core value, Caring Heart, to honor the organizations long-standing, philanthropic spirit. He also led the initiative to establish MMC Corp’s charitable giving entity, the MMC Corp Caring Heart Foundation.

He has served as co-chair for Variety KC events and currently serves on the board of the Kansas City chapter of Folds of Honor. Chadwick received his bachelor’s in construction science from Kansas State University in 1990.

Executive Vice President Engineering and Energy Supply — Retired

Midwest Energy Inc.

Bill Dowling, P.E. retired in 2024 from Midwest Energy Inc., an electric and natural gas utility serving central and western Kansas, following 43 years of service.

Midwest Energy provides sales, generation, transmission, and energy delivery services to 50,000 electric customers and natural gas service to 44,000 customers. Dowling led the engineering and energy supply functions for Midwest Energy with responsibility for power supply planning, design and construction services related to high voltage transmission lines and substations, and distribution system engineering, with annual budgets of $120 million. He also represented Midwest Energy at the Southwest Power Pool, a FERC-designated regional transmission organization for a 14-state area in the central United States, previously chairing the Market and Operations Policy Committee at the SPP.

He received a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Kansas State University in 1979, a Master of Business Administration from Fort Hays State University in 1994, and completed the Public Utility Executive Program at the University of Michigan.

Dowling was a founding member of the advisory committee for the Mike Wiegers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at K-State. He and his wife, Lynn, reside in Hays, Kansas. They have five children, all of which graduated from K-State, and 11 grandchildren.

Global Operate Leader

Deloitte

Doug Gish currently serves as the Deloitte Global Operate Leader, and is responsible for developing and executing a global strategy to scale the Operate business worldwide. Deloitte is the world’s largest professional services organization providing audit and assurance, tax and legal, consulting, financial advisory and risk advisory services to clients across multiple industries in more than 150 countries.

Gish works closely with other Deloitte business and industry leaders and external alliances to develop market-leading assets and solutions, expand Operate capabilities in key markets and enable high-quality service delivery to drive better business outcomes for clients. He also serves as the Global Lead Client Services Partner for a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.

Gish is passionate about talent development and building the next generation of tech-savvy business leaders. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in engineering management from George Washington University.

CEO

HeelzFirst LLC

Dee Hays is a serial entrepreneur that has started multiple successful businesses and is a self-proclaimed high-heelaholic. Hays earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Kansas State University and later, her OPM degree from the Harvard School of Business. Using her years of business and engineering experience, Hays has a new found passion for helping women love wearing high heels and has created a solution called HeelzFirst LLC. She is a strategic, high-performing, analytical leader whose passion is client service and business growth through people and problem-solving.

As the founder and previous owner of Excellence Engineering, Hays focused on solutions that integrate new technologies and ESG incentives with proven methods for the energy, utility and manufacturing sectors.

She currently serves on a variety of nonprofit boards that focus on STEM, women and animal wellbeing. She is a member of the Governor’s Council on Workforce and Economic Development for the state of Oklahoma and is a member of that group’s workforce system oversight committee. Hays is also an appointed commissioner for Oklahoma’s OUBCC commission that provides oversight to building codes in the state. She also served on the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance Advisory Board.

Global Butyl Business Manager

ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company

Bryce Huschka is the North America consumer marketing and growth manager for ExxonMobil. He leads the automotive business and brands such as Mobil 1 with responsibility for strategy, business model, marketing, experience design and growth functions. Previously, he led partner strategy in Asia, the lubricants sales and distribution businesses in the western U.S., and held various financial, analytics, sales and internal consulting roles.

Huschka is from Ottawa, Kansas, and is one of five boys that attended Kansas State University from 2000-2012, three as engineers. He graduated in 2007 with a B.S./M.S. in Industrial Engineering. He interned with ExxonMobil in 2005 and has since lived in Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles and now Houston. In 2018, he and his wife Lauren left their jobs to go on a “learning and giving journey” exploring Asia and supporting education through Junior Achievement. They returned and have two precious girls, Maren and Milly.

Huschka has been working to reimagine higher education since 2017, when he was chair of the IE Advisory Council at K-State. He and his brother, Andrew, worked with department head Brad Kramer to start K-State Skill X, a program that reimagines the student experience as a startup experience where they “IPO” at graduation and their skills and experiences are their valuation. They have integrated into the IE curriculum, he is an adjunct faculty member and has reached hundreds of students. He brings a combination of business model strategy, marketing and higher education experience to the advisory council.

CEO and Chairman of the Board

Conco Construction

Craig Nelson serves as CEO and chairman of the board of Conco Construction. With the company for more than 40 years, he has an unwavering drive to build exceptional talent, developing team members to serve clients with industry-best acumen. Grooming and mentoring Conco’s brightest young leadership for keyman positions has been his top priority.

With executive and board overwatch of a company of more than 200 employees, Nelson continues to advocate for rigorous hiring practices. Recruits are coached to push hard, stretch as far as possible and execute to the highest standard. Nelson led Conco in 2021 to become a 100% employee-owned company to reward this best-practice performance.

A recognized industry leader, Nelson built Conco’s values system that promotes reliability, drivenness, resilience, accountability, loyalty, a relationship mindset and authenticity. Approximately 85% of Conco’s portfolio is repeat business, evidence of the depth of its service culture.

In 2015, Nelson established Conco’s Facility Performance Group to help clients transition into their new spaces and keep them running at optimal performance. He holds a bachelor’s in construction science from K-State.

Distribution Engineering Manager

Hallmark Cards Inc.

Anita Ranhotra is the distribution engineering manager for Hallmark Cards, where she most recently led the development of a new 850,000 square-foot distribution center for the company. She leads the engineering and safety teams supporting Hallmark’s distribution network of more than 3 million square feet.

During Ranhotra’s 24 years at Hallmark, she has worked across the company’s supply chain in engineering, manufacturing, distribution, procurement, product integrity and supply chain strategy. Previously, she worked for The Limited and Payless ShoeSource, where she earned a patent.

Ranhotra is from Manhattan, Kansas, and holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and master’s degree in engineering management, both from Kansas State University. She is a co-founder and member of K-State’s IE Professional Academy, serves on advisory councils for the Multicultural Engineering Program and the business management department, and is a past chair of K-State’s IE advisory council.

Ranhotra has served as the SVP-chapters with the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, or IISE, of which she is a Fellow and past Outstanding Young IE of the Year – Business/Industry. She is currently a senior advisor for the KC chapter. She is a recipient of the Professional Progress award from K-State’s College of Engineering and a STEMMY award for Groundbreaking Leadership from the Central Exchange of KC. She has been recognized as Leader of the Year with the National Association of Asian American Professionals and was a co-founder and past president of both the KC chapter and of Hallmark’s Asian American Resource Community.

Executive Vice President, Marketing — Retired

Tenaska Energy

David Schettler retired in 2019 as executive vice president, marketing of Tenaska Energy’s natural gas marketing and trading affiliate, Tenaska Marketing Ventures, or TMV, located in Omaha, Nebraska. Tenaska Energy is one of the largest privately held energy companies in North America and is actively involved in building, owning and operating power generation facilities in the U.S. and in marketing natural gas and electricity to customers across North America. TMV, the natural gas marketing affiliate, has grown to become the second largest merchant of natural gas supply across the North American pipeline grid at almost 11 Billion cubic feet per day.

A native of the Great Bend, Kansas, area, Schettler earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from K-State in 1983. He began his career at Black & Veatch in Kansas City before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and joining Williams Companies to work as a project engineer on various natural gas pipeline projects. From there, he spent 18 years with a variety of companies before landing in Omaha as one of the early founding employees of TMV. Following stints in risk management, marketing, trading and business development, Schettler rose to the executive team level with responsibility for TMV’s marketing and trading activities in the southern U.S. and Mexico.

Schettler is married to Nola Schettler of Salina, Kansas and they have three children. The Schettler’s now split time between residences in Omaha and Virginia Beach but also enjoy traveling extensively.

General Manager and Senior Vice President of Oil, Gas and Chemical

Burns & McDonnell

Mark Swanson serves as general manager and senior vice president of the oil, gas and chemical group at Burns & McDonnell. Swanson has used his skills to diversify the OGC group by championing the growth of Burns & McDonnell's work in the refining, midstream, chemicals, and renewables markets. He works with existing and potential process clients to execute predictable engineering, procurement and construction projects.

Swanson joined the company in 2000 as a mechanical engineer, quickly moving up the ranks to client coordinator, project manager and business development manager for the oil, gas and chemical industries. He was named vice president and director of marketing and sales in 2014 and accepted the additional responsibility of managing strategy and financials within the oil, gas and chemical business units in 2021. Swanson has continued to advance and was promoted to his current role in 2024 where he continues to inspire successful project execution and ongoing efforts to promote Burns & McDonnell's capabilities.

Swanson and his wife, D’ette, have three sons, Teegan, Caden and Brenden. Whether traveling to cheer on the K-State Wildcats, spending time in Manhattan, or vacationing, the Swansons love spending time together.

Vice President, Diversity Affairs

Austin Commercial

Simeon Terry is vice president of diversity affairs for Austin Commercial. He has been in the construction industry for 30 years and has managed diversity programs for 21 years. Currently, he oversees the company’s diversity and inclusion program both internally and externally. This includes overseeing cultural competency education, diversity compliance, affirmative action, recruiting/hiring, mentoring, and minority and women business procurement. During his 22-year tenure with Austin Commercial, Terry also served as director of diversity affairs and diversity affairs program manager.

Terry works with many different departments within Austin including accounting, law, risk management, marketing and business development, operations and human resources.

He began his career in construction as a safety manager, but has also held positions in scheduling, construction management, project management and operations management.

Prior to his career in construction, he worked as a manufacturing engineer for McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, Missouri, building F-18 Hornet airplanes for the Navy. He also worked as a loss control regional manager for Liberty Mutual.

Terry holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Kansas State University and an MBA in finance from the University of Phoenix-Dallas. He also holds a Master Compliance Administrator certification (MCA) from Morgan State University.

Terry has received recognition from numerous agencies and organizations, including the state, regional and national Minority Business Enterprise Advocate of the Year Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency; Champions of Diversity Award; Minority Business Leader Award; National Diversity Council Top 100 Diversity Champions Award; and the Dallas Business Journal’s Leaders in Diversity Award.

Sr. Vice President, Global Wastewater Treatment Sector Leader

Director: Institute for Applied Science, Technology and Policy

Stantec Consulting Services Inc.

Art Umble holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University and a doctoral degree in the same discipline from the University of Notre Dame.

He currently directs the Stantec Institute for Applied Science, Technology and Policy. He focuses on research in environmental science, ranging from water scarcity and reuse to circular economy, to the food-energy-water nexus influenced by climate change. In this role, Umble provides technical and managerial support to research teams, develops strategic partnerships with industry and academia, and promotes environmental science through numerous national and international forums. In addition to consulting and research, his experience includes university teaching and managing a publicly owned water and wastewater utility.

Umble serves on numerous state and national forums and stakeholder work groups related to emerging treatment technologies, sustainability in treatment and environmental regulation. He also serves on advisory councils for engineering colleges at two universities.

President

J.J. Westhoff Construction Co.

Jerry Westhoff, P.E., is president and founder of J.J. Westhoff Construction Co., which builds sanitary landfills for municipalities and private companies such as Waste Management and Waste Connections, coal combustion residue monofills for coal-fired power plants, as well as wastewater treatment plants and utilities throughout Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

Westhoff earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University in 1974. He began his career with Continental Oil Company in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and then Denver, Colorado, as a field engineer. He next joined a construction company in Lincoln, Nebraska, as a project engineer overseeing its wastewater treatment plant division. In 1980 he founded J.J. Westhoff Construction Co.

He has served on the K-State civil engineering advisory council, is a member of the board of trustees of the KSU Foundation and is a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Westhoff and his wife, Robin, a 1975 graduate of K-State in home economics/family and child development, have two children and three grandchildren. Their daughter, Katie, is a graduate of Colorado State University and their son, Michael, is graduate of K-State.

Chief Sector Officer

Henderson Companies

Jason Wollum, PE, LEED AP BD+C, is the chief sector officer at Henderson Companies, the Lenexa, Kansas-based parent company of Henderson Engineers and Henderson Building Solutions. Henderson Engineers is a national building systems design firm whose market focus spans business, community, grocery and distribution, health, retail and venue projects. Henderson Building Solutions is a construction management and commissioning services firm that provides a seamless bridge between design, construction and ongoing maintenance.

Wollum currently sits on the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering advisory council at K-State. He was a 2023 recipient of the college’s Professional Progress Award. He graduated from K-State in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering and is a past member of the Architectural Engineering Advisory Council for the GE Johnson Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science.

Wollum joined Henderson in 1997 and has held a variety of progressively responsible roles since. This includes leading the company’s retail sector, its largest business unit, before joining the C-Suite in 2022. He enjoys volunteering with the Girl Scouts and currently serves on the Chairman’s Circle for the Kansas City chapter of the American Cancer Society.

Senior Vice President, Veritas Corporate Operations — Retired

Veritas Technologies LLC

Jane Zhu served as senior vice president, corporate operations at Veritas. In this role, she was responsible for leading a combined organization that includes IT, facilities, finance, business data analytics and program management functions.

Zhu is a strong technologist and leader and has excelled at building and nurturing strong teams. She joined Veritas in 2017 and led the data protection and governance engineering team through multiple significant product releases during her tenure in the role. She has more than 20 years of experience leading engineering organizations to build enterprise products/solutions in the areas of data protection, big data management and analytics, database security, application life cycle management, middleware and network application monitoring.

She joined Veritas from Dell EMC, where she was vice president of the data protection software group and general manager for Mozy business unit. Before joining EMC, Zhu served as vice president of engineering for TIBCO Software, where she was responsible for security information and event management product portfolios. Prior to that, she held executive engineering positions at IPLocks, which was acquired by Fortinet, and Borland.

Zhu holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, as well as a doctorate in industrial engineering/operations research from Kansas State University.