Tom Hufnagel (BS Civ Egr '91), a 20-year Illinois Department of Transportation veteran, was named Statewide Engineer of the Year for his outstanding contributions at the agency. He also received the District 3 Engineer of the Year Award.
Hufnagel is the design and plan engineer in the Bureau of Operations for IDOT District 3 in Ottawa. He secured federal funding for regional improvements, which included building a network of dynamic message boards and constructing security architecture for the Interstate 39 Abraham Lincoln Bridge over the Illinois River with homeland security funding.
Raised in Michigan, he attended Grand Ledge High School and Lansing Community College. He took a break during his studies at the community college to serve as a combat engineer in the U.S. Army. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from MSU in 1991.
Hufnagel began working for IDOT in the summer of 1992 and spent the first 10 years in the Bureau of Construction as a construction inspector and resident engineer before joining the Bureau of Operations.
