Purpose & Vision

The Foundation hosts an annual Golf Tournament to raise scholarship funds. The Golf Tournament raises funds through corporate sponsorship, registration fees, donations, and a silent auction. 

The Foundation hosts an annual softball tournament to raise funds for the engineering scholarship program. Teams, which are usually member firms of ACEC Minnesota, pay an entry fee. 

The Foundation aims to create a fiscally strong endowment to fund scholarship program. The endowment was initially funded through a contribution from HIWAY Federal Credit Union. Since then, the endowment is funded by corporate contributions, private contributions, grants, and other Foundations. 

Annual scholarships are provided by corporate sponsors. 

The External STEM Partnership taskforce connects inspires the future workforce of the engineering industry through collaborative involvement in STEM education. This taskforce is partnering and building relationships with STEM organizations, educators, and students to engage K-12 students in engineering. The taskforce is also raising awareness of the need for future engineers, technicians, and technologists in the engineering industry. 

The Post-Secondary Education Engagement and Outreach is intended to develop and strengthen relationships between the consulting engineering industry and engineering colleges and universities to inspire students into a consulting engineering career path. This initiative also strengthens the scholarship program by increasing awareness of available scholarships and encouraging a wider pool of scholarships applicants.

Research suggests that the best form of retention is mentorship. Many engineers exit the workforce to pursue careers in other industries. To address this attrition, the Foundation has established a taskforce to develop a support program for early-stage career engineers.

The Foundation organizes continuing professional education opportunities for engineers. 

Th Foundation also conducts industry research to identify employment trends and forecasts in the engineering industry.  

Brett Burfeind Chairs the Workforce Development Committee. Brett is the Vice President of Operations at Alliant Engineering and specializes in Transporation Engineering. He is a Professional Engineer and has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. 

Miranda Laxen leads the Foundation's Post-Secondary Education Engagement & Outreach initiative. She is a transportation engineer with Alliant Engineering. Miranda is a Professional Engineer and has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from North Dakota State University. 

Ricky Kirchner leads the Foundation's Mentorship Initiative. Ricky is a Structural Engineer for Kimley-Horn. He is a registered Professional Engineer. Ricky is the President of the Minnesota Structural Engineers Association. He has a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. 

Brad Wodash leads the Foundation's External STEAM Partnerships initiative. Brad is a structural engineer for Kimley-Horn who works on bridge and construction projects. He is a registered Professional Engineer. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and three sons. Brad has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota.