Mike Berry, a Director and Principal in PEC’s Topeka office, was awarded Outstanding Engineer of the Year by the Topeka Chapter of KSPE (Kansas Society for Professional Engineer)!

Mike has served as the Project Manager and Principal-in-Charge leading the PEC team for the largest and most complex development project undertaken at the University of Kansas in nearly a century. The KU Central District Development Project encompasses over fifty acres and redevelops a major portion of the Central District on campus to provide the following facilities:

• Integrated Science Building: 280,000 square feet of teaching and laboratory space
• Residence Hall and Dining Facility: 545-bed expansion adjacent to Oliver Hall
• Apartment Style Student Housing: 708-bed living complex on campus
• Student Union: This 30,000 square foot building replaces the Burge Union, which has been razed
• Parking Garage and surface parking lots to support parking demand in Central District (1900 spaces)
• Central Utility Plant to support the Science and Union Buildings, allowing for future expansion.

PEC’s portion of the project includes the site improvements for the non-housing facilities: grading, drainage, streets, surface parking, water distribution, wastewater collection, stormwater collection and treatment, site lighting, 12-kV electrical distribution, and telecommunication systems.

Mike has been a member of KES/KSPE since 1981. He won the Young Engineer-in-Training for Kansas in 1985. Over the years, Mike has been involved with both the Topeka and Wichita chapters, and participates in Mathcounts and Engineer Week activities, among others.

Mike has also been a member of ASCE since 1981 and a member of the Construction Specifications Institute since 2005.

An avid bicyclist, Mike has participated in the Bike MS event each year since 1998. This is a fund-raising event for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, with a goal of finding a cure for the disease. Mike logged nearly two thousand miles on his bicycle in this event. He is also participating in Wichita’s Tour de Cure this year.

Mike gives much credit for his success to his wife, Nancy, who he says has been a constant source of support throughout his career. Please join me in congratulating this year’s Outstanding Engineer, Mike Berry.