I began my career with INDOT in October 2011 serving as the Assistant Bridge Inspection Engineer in the Vincennes District. My wife, Katrina (INDOT Technical Services Engineer), and I lived in Virginia Beach at the time, and our positions provided a long-awaited opportunity for us to move back home to Indiana. Although the East Coast provided many great learning experiences (and a beach only a few miles away), the personal values and ideals carried by Indiana residents, and opportunities for professional growth at INDOT, are allowing us to raise our new family in a truly selfless community and state.
In my current position of Bridge Inspection Engineer, I am blessed to be a part of a great team of inspectors with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Our team’s primary task is ongoing inspection of approximately 1,020 bridges and 1,800 culverts in our district. We are afforded several opportunities of servant leadership to our Indiana peers on a daily basis. Safety, responsibility, and fiscal accountability are the principles that drive our work ethic every day. Safety of our motoring public is paramount to INDOT’s mission, and we feel responsible for ensuring safety with every bridge or culvert structure we inspect. Our team understands that our structures are paid for with Indiana taxpayer dollars, and we manage our assets emphasizing fiscal attentiveness and superior customer service to Indiana citizens.
-Andrew Pinkstaff, Highway Engineer – Vincennes District
I started my career with INDOT in October, 2012 working as the Capital Project Funds Management Director. In my position, I am primarily responsible for financial analysis, project funding, agency financial outlook, and programming oversight of the agency’s projects in short and long-term segments. My position is very dynamic. I interact with and serve as a communication liaison between the District teams and Central Office teams, serve as a primary point of contact for the Executive team for project information and project funding, and interact with a wide array of people within the agency divisions.
I enjoy my job because it challenges my personal leadership and provides opportunity for interpersonal growth. I leverage communication, conflict management, and change management skills daily. My success hinges on the engagement of my team and how well I am able to develop team synergy and empowerment amongst my team members; I have a great team!
INDOT has provided me with an opportunity to utilize my hard technical skills and stretches my leadership skills on a continual basis. The best things about working for INDOT are the team driven atmosphere, a culture where change is a daily part of the business, and the relationships I have forged within the agency. Every day is different and brings new surprises, but striving towards the common vision of our agency’s Core 4 values moves everyone in the same direction. INDOT is implementing tools within a public agency that have yielded success in the private sector. This resonates in how INDOT is moving forward with innovative methods as a government agency serving its public.
-Clark Packer, Director - Logistics Director
I started out in the GEDP Program for the then Indiana State Highway Commission back in January of 1981, as part of a group of 4 engineers at a then whopping salary of $17,914 per year. I had a great time interacting with other trainees both in my group and the group that started in the spring of 1980, there were over 20 of them and we did many things together, including playing softball and golf and going out in the evenings. Needless to say I made a lot of friends and had a great time!
I have worked in the Greenfield District and in Central Office in several positions including Project Engineer, Area Engineer, Field Engineer, District Construction Engineer and now the State Construction Engineer.
-Gregory G. Pankow, State Construction Engineer
The GEDP program was good for me because I got to see and experience some different aspects of INDOT, traffic, materials and tests and even got to ride with a maintenance crew for a couple days, replacing signs. Getting to move through INDOT and meet different people within the agency has proven to be invaluable. In our line of work communication is key and getting to meet people face to face and getting to know them and what they do, even for a short time, reduced the communication barrier.
After completing the GEDP program, even though I really enjoyed construction, I accepted a position within one of the central office design groups. Throughout my career with INDOT I have primarily stayed in design.
-Katherine Smutzer, Division of Engineering Services and Design Support