About the Speakers

Alana Alves de Moraes, Ph.D.
Civil Associate I - Michael Baker International

Alana has been researching composite steel structures for over 4 years and completed her Ph.D in November of 2025. She is now a civil associate at Michael Baker International in the Chicago office.

Jarrod Cebulski, PE & Krishna Patel, EIT

Director of Planning & Staff Structural Engineer - RINA

Jarrod Cebulski graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a BS in civil engineering. He began his career at the IDOT where he worked in planning, design, and construction. His last position was head of consultant studies, where he oversaw all consultant prepared preliminary engineering studies in District One. He transitioned to Patrick Engineering, where he is Director of Transportation Planning. Jarrod is a licensed professional engineer in Illinois and several other states.

Krishna Patel is a structural bridge engineer working at RINA, North America. She graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with a BS and MS in Civil Engineering. She has four years of experience working on planning and design of bridges, retaining walls, and culverts for clients including IDOT, INDOT, and ISTHA.

Irsilia Colletti, PE, SE & David Budzik, PE, SE
Project Manager - HNTB

Irsilia Colletti is a Project Manager and licensed structural and professional engineer in the Bridge Structures Department at HNTB. She has 14 years of experience in the industry ranging from small structures to river bridges. She graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and was selected as the Illinois Section Young Civil Engineer of the year in 2021.

Robert J. Connor, Ph.D.
Professor - Purdue University

Dr. Connor is the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor in Civil Engineering and Director of CAI and S-BRITE at Purdue University. He has 30 years of experience with bridge behavior, laboratory testing, field evaluation, inspection, long-term performance, design, and analytical modeling of steel bridges.

Claire Heumann, PE, PEng, ENV SP
Project Engineer - Parsons

Claire Heumann is a project engineer, licensed in both the US and Canada. She has 15 years of experience working on bridge, maritime, and offshore projects. She currently serves as the Design-Construction Coordinator for the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project in Michigan and Ontario. She is responsible for communication among stakeholders, timely submittals, client requests, meetings, and hoping she can wrap it all up soon enough to get her kids to swim practice on time!

Will Mardauss, PE, SE & John Schneider, PE
Chief Structural Bridge Engineer & Area Manager - Farnsworth Group, Civil Constructors (Helm)

Will Mardauss, PE, SE is a structural engineer with extensive experience in construction engineering and temporary works for complex bridge projects, including bridge sliding, cofferdams, demolition, and erection engineering.

John Schneider is a project manager with deep expertise in heavy highway construction across IDOT District 2, known for delivering complex projects through strategic planning, clear communication, and strong agency coordination from preconstruction through closeout.

Meg Kindelin
President - JLK Architects

Meg Kindelin is the President of JLK Architects. She has studied and restored historic buildings and infrastructure for 27 years, including bascule bridges, steel and concrete fixed bridges, canals, aqueducts, locks, transit stations, and industrial buildings. She earned BS in Cultural Anthropology, MA in Architectural History, and MArch in Architectural Design. She’s a member of Association for Preservation Technology & founded the Chicago Big Shoulders Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology.

Kamlesh Kumar, SE, PE
Senior Structural Engineer, Project Manager - EXP US Services Inc.

Kamlesh Kumar is a Senior Structural Engineer and Project Manager with EXP US Services. He has over 20 years of experience in engineering and technical management of transportation structures including highways, railways, mass transit, and movable bridges. He has led several projects involving analysis, design, inspection, load rating, and rehabilitation of simple and complex bridges in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. Mr. Kumar is a licensed Structural Engineer in IL and Professional Engineer in several states.

Hemal Patel, PE, SE & Bhushan Selvaraj, PhD President &  - 10-4 Engineering, PLLC

Hemal Patel, PE, SE and Bhushan Selvaraj, PhD are structural engineers with 18 combined years of experience in bridge design and analysis. Their work has included highway ramps, river crossings, light-rail and freight railroad bridges in major infrastructure projects. Both Hemal and Bhushan are former students of Dr. Helwig at the University of Texas in Austin and have been fortunate to learn from his expertise in stability of steel girder bridges.

Dan Schriks PE SE
Sr. Structural Project Manager - Mead & Hunt

Dan Schriks is the Structural Group Manager for Mead & Hunt’s Midwest transportation structures practice. He leads bridge engineering teams and supports the delivery of complex highway bridge projects across the region, from early project development through final design and construction support. Dan brings experience in the design of major bridge components, project management, and advanced structural analysis. He recently completed graduate studies at Northwestern University focused on leadership and organizational design.

Mark Shaffer
Engineer of Bridge Design, Bureau of Bridges and Structures - Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) 

Mark Shaffer serves as the Policy, Standards, and Final Plan Control Unit Chief in the Bureau of Bridges and Structures at the Illinois Department of Transportation. He has assisted with several IDOT-sponsored research projects administered by the Illinois Center for Transportation.
Mark chaired the Technical Review Panels for Projects R27-115, “Analysis of Superstructures of Integral Abutment Bridges,” and R27-070, “Seismic Performance of Quasi-Isolated Bridges in Illinois.”