Achievement Awards
- Details
Each year ITS Minnesota recognizes one individual from the public sector and one individual from the private sector who have made outstanding contributions to the field of ITS.
Ron Rajkowski
Craig Carlson
In 2012 ITS Minnesota formally named the private sector award the “Carlson-Rajkowski Award” in honor of Craig Carlson and Ron Rajkowski, employees of Egan Company who were killed in a tragic work zone accident along I-35W in Burnsville on October 13, 2011. As experienced professionals, Craig and Ron had deep ties to Minnesota’s transportation industry, especially in the design, integration and deployment of ITS. Craig Carlson was an innovative outdoor electrical leader at Egan whose work focused on designing transit signal priority systems, fiber backbone communications, traffic signal optimization and other technologies that provide real-time information to road users. Working closely with Craig, Ron Rajkowski led the field construction and deployment efforts for Egan ITS projects, closely supervising each project to ensure its overall quality and safety. Craig and Ron were both committed to building and maintaining an intelligent, safe Minnesota transportation system. The ITS Minnesota private sector award has been renamed to reflect their professional standards of excellence and continued commitment to Minnesota’s transportation industry and ITS in particular.
Award recipients demonstrate outstanding contributions to advance ITS in Minnesota. Contributions may be demonstrated through exceptional leadership, innovative projects, education and outreach efforts, collaborative partnerships, or support of the ITS Minnesota and Minnesota Guidestar organizations.
Nominations are sought from members at the beginning of each calendar year in conjunction with nominations for the ITS Minnesota board of directors. Award recipients are then recognized at the ITS Minnesota Annual Meeting each spring.
Previous Achievement Award Recipients
| Year | Public Sector Achievement Award | Carlson-Rajkowski (Private Sector) Achievement Award |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Sue Sheehan, MnDOT | Egan Company |
| 2011 | Colonel Al Smith, Minnesota State Patrol | Dean Deeter, Athey Creek Consultants |
| 2010 | Nick Thompson, MnDOT | Craig Carlson, Egan Company |
| 2009 | Max Donath, U of M ITS Institute | Daryl Taavola, URS Corporation |
| 2008 | Terry Haukom, MnDOT | Durga Panda, Image Sensing Systems |
| 2007 | Bernie Arsenau, MnDOT Kathy Swanson, DPS |
Dean Larson, International Idea Institute |
| 2006 | Marthand Nookala, Hennepin County | Jeff Nicholson, ADDCO |
| 2005 | Dawn Spanhake, U of M CTS | Brian Scott, SRF Consulting Group |
| 2004 | Bill Gardner, MnDOT | Dennis Foderberg, Iteris |
| 2003 | Doug Differt, URS Corporation | |
| 2002 | George Welk, MnDOT | Stephen Manhart, Bolton and Menk |
Previous Special Award Recipients
- Ferrol Robinson, U of M Humphrey Institute, Lifetime Achievement, 2010
- Dennis Foderberg, SEH, Lifetime Achievement, 2008
- Bob Provost, Citizen Representative, 2006
- Gordon Melby, C3 Trans; Roberta Dwyer, MnDOT; Dan Rickels, TC&W
- Project Award - MnDOT District 4 Connect Detroit Lakes ITS for Snow & Ice Operations, 2009