Kim Nowack selected for American Council of Engineering Companies of Michigan honor
Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA) Executive Secretary Kim Nowack is the 2021 recipient of the Felix A. Anderson Image Award, noting her contributions to enhancing the image of the engineering profession.
The award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Michigan was announced Friday during the council’s 2021 Engineering and Surveying Excellence Awards Gala, held virtually this year. The Felix A Anderson Image Award is presented each year to one nominee who is perceived by the profession and their communities as a leader, and has demonstrated how their actions have positively affected the public’s understanding and appreciation of the engineering profession.
“I’m thrilled to have been selected for this award, and it’s amazing to be the first female honored this way,” Nowack said. “It’s been so rewarding to be an ambassador for the bridge and the civil engineering profession throughout my years here at the MBA.”
Amy Trahey, a fellow engineer, president of Great Lakes Engineering Group LLC, and vice chair of the MBA, said she nominated Nowack for the award because she is both “inspiring and the epitome of why civil engineering is so awesome!”
“She has been an inspiration to me personally as a fellow civil engineer and to so many others in the industry,” Trahey said. “The MBA is proud of Kim and all her contributions to the field of civil engineering.”
Nowack, who has served as executive secretary of the MBA since May 2019, oversees all operations, management and maintenance of the Mackinac Bridge. A recent inductee to the Michigan Technological University (MTU) Academy of Civil and Environmental Engineers, she frequently gives presentations about the bridge to fellow engineers, aspiring engineering students, and middle and high school students interested in the STEM fields.
Nowack previously served as the chief engineer at the bridge since 2002, overseeing bridge maintenance work, as well as contracted design, inspection and construction work. A Grand Rapids native and St. Ignace resident, she is a member of the International Cable Supported Bridge Operators Association and a 1985 MTU graduate.
Prior to her tenure at the bridge, she held several positions with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), including stints as a general engineer with the department’s construction division in Kalamazoo; project design, construction and assistant resident engineer in St. Ignace; and delivery engineer at MDOT’s Newberry Transportation Service Center (TSC).
