Current or prospective students in the Civil Engineering program are welcome to email these alums for more information about their work or their education at UNH. Please note: The purpose of this exchange is to answer questions about career and educational experiences--not to provide assistance with science projects, research, or other issues.

Amore L. Bunn, M.S
Civil Engineering, 1989; Ph.D.,1992 Research Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA Amoret Bunn works in environmental monitoring and conducts ecological risk assessments in the Ecology Group at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy. When she left UNH she knew that she wanted to work on cleaning up hazardous waste, but when she started working at the Hanford Site, a former Manhattan Project site, she got to work with the whole periodic table too. Amoret interacts with engineers, hydrologists, geologists, biologists, atmospheric scientists, and cultural resource specialists in determining cleanup strategies that are protective of human health and the environment. The opportunity to take classes in several different areas at UNH was very helpful in preparing her for the diversity of issues that are involved in making clean up decisions. Email: amoret.bunn@pnl.gov

Todd Fratzel, B.S.
1994; M.S.,1996 Structural Engineer, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., Boston, Mass. Todd Fratzel's graduate thesis focused on the use of high-performance concrete for bridges. After graduating from UNH, he moved to Boston and worked on the famous "Big Dig" for two years, on a team that designed a state-of-the-art elevated highway interchange in Boston (I93/Route 1 Interchange, just north of the Charles River, connecting to the new cable stayed bridge over the Charles River). Last June Todd started working for a new firm in Boston, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. A registered professional structural engineer in the state of Massachusetts, he is primarily responsible for designing highway and railway bridges. Todd is designing railway bridges for a new commuter rail service from Boston to Fall River and New Bedford, a $300 million project for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). He also helps oversee the construction of bridges that the firm has designed. He feels his UNH education gave him excellent skills that he uses on a daily basis. Photo: Todd is shown standing inside a reinforcing cage for an eight-foot diameter drilled shaft that will help support Interstate 93 in Boston. A drilled shaft is a massive foundation pile (or caisson) that goes 130 feet into the earth and rests on bedrock to help support the bridge above ground. Email: TFratzel@VHB.com

Elizabeth Mikulis, B.S.
Civil & Environmental Engineering, 1990; M.B.A., Clemson University, 1995 Senior Consultant, Ernst & Young Boston, Massachusetts Elizabeth Mikulis is currently managing the New England sales and marketing initiative of Ernst & Young's award-winning Connected Consulting service, ErnieTM. She has introduced Ernie, and the concept of online consulting, to more than 200 companies in New England and has made presentations to executives various industries. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Elizabeth was a product manager for a software company specializing in employee self-service applications. She also worked for a subsidiary of a multinational company in Milan, Italy, where she was responsible for market statistics of an Italian CyberMall. Prior to receiving an International MBA from Clemson University, Elizabeth worked as a project manager and environmental engineering consultant in Reston, Va. She managed remedial-design and remedial-action hazardous waste projects, performed oversight of such projects for the EPA and was responsible for developing associated work plans, project schedules, and budgets. She also performed compliance audits of waste management facilities and prepared Clean Air Act, Title V operating permit applications for a $2 billion building products and pulp and paper industry client. Elizabeth also developed strategies to bring facilities into compliance with state and federal solid waste, hazardous waste, and air quality regulations. Email: Elizabeth.Mikulis@ey.com
 

Susie Siden, B.S.
1998 Structural Engineer and Graduate Student, Northeastern University, Boston, Mass. After graduating from UNH, Susie Siden worked in the bridge design section of HDR Engineering in Boston, where she designed the superstructure and substructure of bridges, including two that are part of Boston's Central Artery Tunnel Project. She is now working towards her master's degree in structural engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, where she is a graduate assistant on a research grant funded by the National Science Foundation. As part of the grant, Susie works on the CONNECTIONS Program, which seeks to encourage, inspire, and support girls and women studying science, engineering, and math. While at UNH Susie worked as a summer intern for the Massachusetts Highway Department as a field engineer in South Boston at the same site where she later designed bridge for the Central Artery. Prior experience with the site gave her an unusual perspective on her project, which included challenges such as situating a bridge on top of a major tunnel. Email: ssiden@coe.neu.edu
 

Cheryl Wilson, B.S.
1995; M.S., 1998 Structural Engineer, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Bedford, N.H. Cheryl works for Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, a transportation, development, and environmental services company. She has been involved in superstructure rehabilitation designs for various bridges in Vermont. She has also done preliminary deflection investigations for concrete shafts on the 3600-foot-long Missiquoi Bay bridge connecting Alburg and Swanton Vermont. Most recently, Cheryl has helped inspect 78 railroad bridges in New York and Massachusetts. Most were built between 1900 and 1920. Visual inspections were performed to verify member size and assess their condition in order to estimate the loss in load-carrying capacity. As a graduate student, Cheryl, worked on a Federal Highway Administration research project to investigate and promote the use of high-performance concrete (HPC) in highway bridges. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation designed a 65-foot HPC bridge in Bristol that Cheryl instrumented. Using the data she collected from the bridge, combined with results from laboratory tests, she was able to evaluate the short-term performance of the bridge. Email: cwilson_unh@VHB.com