Burns & McDonnell hires water treatment expert Karla Kinser

Design and engineering consultancy Burns & McDonnell has added Karla Kinser to their water treatment team in Denver, where she will serve as a senior project manager. Kinser has nearly 30 years of engineering experience, specializing in water treatment and purification.

Kansas City, Missouri–based Burns & McDonnell has an ambitious talent expansion strategy aimed at expanding its headcount by 1,000 people annually. Part of that strategy includes doubling its Chicago employee headcount to 600 people by 2022. The employee-owned firm currently has 7,000 employees and over 50 offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Burns & McDonnell delivers engineering, architecture, and construction services to a wide range of industries, including aviation, the public sector, oil & gas, and water.

The consultancy has now strengthened its water group with the addition of Karla Kinser as a senior project manager in the firm’s Denver office. In the role, she will manage multidisciplinary teams as they plan, design, and construct water treatment facilities.

Kinser will draw on nearly three decades of experience to deliver design-build, engineer-procure-construct, and other advisory services within the area of water infrastructure systems. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Karla to our water team as we witness an increasing demand for safe and reliable water solutions," said Mark Lichtwardt, senior vice president and general manager for Burns & McDonnell Denver. "Whether it's implementing water treatment technologies or updating aging infrastructure systems, Karla's extensive knowledge and depth of experience will help take communities into the next century."

Before joining Burns & McDonnell, Kinser was a senior water treatment project manager and desalination practice lead at design and engineering firm HDR for two years, and a director of the desalination portfolio at water filtration supplier Pall Corp. for just under a year. Kinser worked at water and natural resource consultancy MWH Global (now Stantec) from 2004 to 2015, first as membrane practice leader, and then as global mine water treatment leader.

Kinser also spent time as a project engineer at Memcor, a hydrologist for the US Forest Service, and a senior project engineer at Montgomery Watson. She started her career as a process engineer at CH2M HILL.  Kinser holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana, as well as a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Purdue University.

Commenting on her new role at Burns & McDonnell, Kinser said, "Water plays an integral role in the economic prosperity for communities and businesses alike, and I look forward to using my passion to help deliver cost-effective solutions that push the needle forward."

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