Spotlight in Engineering
Ronald F. Kadane, P.E. / P.L.S.
It is with great pleasure that this year’s Young Engineers’ Committee “Spotlight” in engineering article goes to Mr. Ron Kadane, P.E. Ron received his Bachelor’s of Civil Engineering Degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1964. Soon after graduation Ron went to work for the City of St. Louis, as a civil engineer in the Sewers and Paving Department. As most of you can imagine while at this position Ron performed design and construction inspections of sewers and streets. One of Ron’s first assignments with the City of St. Louis was to assist the survey crew and set some telescope instruments on top of the Planetarium to “true north”. Ron thinks they are still there.
From 1965 to 1966 Ron worked for Stupp Brothers Bridge and Iron Company in Lemay, Missouri, performing structural steel design. In 1966 Ron went to work for Harland Bartholomew and Associates until 1978 where he was a senior civil engineer responsible for the design of civil engineering projects including sewers, streets, highways, parks, malls, and other site development improvements. During his employment with Harland Bartholomew and Associates Ron was Resident Engineer for the construction of an urban renewal project in Keokuk, Iowa.
Ron also remembers traveling to such exotic places like Duluth, Minnesota and Fort Dodge, Iowa. However, there were a few nicer places like Phoenix and San Diego where Ron performed site studies for Chrysler Corporation to build their vehicle testing facility.
While with Harlan Bartholomew & Associates Ron had the opportunity to work for a gentleman by the name of Stan Dolecki. Stan and the company believed in professional organizations and encouraged its employees to participate. They believed that this helped with an employee’s people skills. There are several Engineers still working in the St. Louis area today that worked for Stan to which Ron adds, “We owe him a huge debt of thanks for his guidance and professionalism.”
From 1978 to 2004, a whopping 25-1/2 years!, Ron worked for The Clayton Engineering Company. Ron had been Vice President of Engineering and Corporate Secretary since 1990, before retiring last year. While with Clayton Engineering, Ron had fond memories of many site improvement projects in the Midwest such as the new Lafayette High School in the Rockwood School District and Phase One of the Metro Link Project, East St. Louis to Kingshighway Boulevard which ranked among his best.
Ron is a registered Professional Engineer in the states of Missouri and Illinois and a Professional Land Surveyor in the State of Missouri. Ron and his wife Jackie reside in Ballwin, Missouri, have two children and three grandchildren and celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 2004. Ron has been a member of the Engineers’ Club since 1973 and served as president between 2002 and 2003. In addition, Ron has been a member of the bowling league since 1973, and held the presidency for other affiliated societies such as the Missouri Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) and the St. Louis Chapter of the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE). Ron has been on the Ballwin Planning and Zoning Commission since 1999 to 2002. Ron was once a young engineer as he received the Young Engineer of the Year award in 1976, Outstanding Engineer in Private Practice in 1996, and Engineer of the Year in 1997 from MSPE. Ron also was dubbed Private Sector Engineer of the Year from the APWA, Missouri Chapter, in 2001 and Civil Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 2001.
When asked many years ago, by a student doing a survey, what did Ron like about working as an Engineer? His reply was, “Other than doing the design and coordinating with contractors during construction of a project, it was working with people.” The student then asked what Ron didn’t like, replied Ron, “Working with the other kind of people.”
Ron notes “Even though this profession is highly computerized now, we still deal with people and their personalities, and you don’t learn that in the classroom or getting PDH units.”
These qualities exemplify the mission statement of the Engineers’ Club. The Engineers’ Club is proud and thankful to have Ron Kadane as a Spotlight member.
Scott J. Smith, Chairman