Engineer hope he can ignite spark

MAQUOKETA, Iowa Ethan Kilburg's passion for engineering was ignited in a high school classroom.

Now a municipal engineer, Kilburg returned to Maquoketa High School on Thursday to possibly spark a civil engineering interest in a new generation of students.

Kilburg said his career choice was cemented through Project Lead the Way courses he took in high school, specifically civil engineering.

"That's really the class that opened my eyes to what engineering is all about," he said.

In the class, he received handson experience with aspects of engineering including surveying and designing with software.

Maquoketa was the first high school in Iowa to embrace PLTW, a program that promotes science, technology, engineering and math curriculum.

Julie Kinrade, a guidance counselor, said the program started at Maquoketa about 10 years ago with one course. It has grown to six.

Teachers receive intensive special training to teach the program that emphasizes science and technology courses.

Two months ago, Kilburg became a municipal engineer with MSA Professional Services in its Cedar Rapids office. Mathew Saur, team leader/project manager with MSA, has taken Kilburg under his wing and shared speaker duties Thursday. He described some projects MSA has completed, including recreational amenities. (full article…)

BY STACEY BECKER, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, January 23, 2015. STACEY.BECKER@THMEDIA.COM

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