Two alumni honored with induction to Engineering Hall of Fame
MANHATTAN —The Carl R. Ice College of Engineering at Kansas State University will induct two new members into its Hall of Fame on March 4.
Induction to the hall is the highest honor bestowed on its alumni by the college. Honorees are recognized for their professional success and accomplishment, involvement with and support of the College of Engineering, dedication to K-State, and professional and public service.
The following are members of the class of 2023:
Kevin Honomichl, De Soto, is president of BHC, a civil engineering and surveying firm headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, which he co-founded in 1992. He received his bachelor's degree from K-State in 1986 and master's from the University of Kansas, both in civil engineering.
Honomichl began his career as a structural engineer at Black & Veatch, performing structural steel design for power plant projects and leading design projects for portions of AT&T's initial transcontinental fiber optic cable projects. He joined Ross Stephenson & Associates, Modesto, California, and continued his focus on fiber optic telecommunication projects throughout the Western United States. He and colleagues launched Brungardt Honomichl & Company P.A. in June 1992, later rebranded to BHC.
He is a 2011 graduate of Leadership Kansas and has served on the board of directors of the American Council of Engineering Companies-Kansas, including a term as national director and as the group's national political action committee chair for Kansas. In addition, he served on the board of directors of the Wyandotte County Economic Development Corporation and the De Soto Economic Development Council. Honomichl served on the City of De Soto Planning Commission for 13 years and was elected to the De Soto City Council in 2017 and reelected in 2021. He currently holds a position on the Johnson County Community College Foundation Board.
Honomichl is a trustee of the KSU Foundation and has served on the civil engineering advisory council and the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering advisory council. He was appointed by former K-State President Richard Myers to serve on the Johnson County Education and Research Triangle board of directors. He received the Professional Progress Award from the K-State College of Engineering in 2000 and the Distinguished Service Award from Kansas State University in 2002. He also was named the Chi Epsilon Chapter Honor Member in 2009.
He and his wife, Dianne, a 1986 civil engineering graduate, have one son, Mikolas, who is attending Kansas State University.
Jerry Westhoff, Lincoln, Nebraska, is president and founder of JJ Westhoff Construction Co., which builds sanitary landfills for municipalities and private companies such as Waste Management and Waste Connections, coal combustion residue monofills for coal-fired power plants, as well as wastewater treatment plants and utilities throughout Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.
Westhoff earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University in 1974 and became a licensed professional engineer in 1981. He began his career with Continental Oil Company in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and then Denver, Colorado, as a field engineer. He next joined a construction company in Lincoln, Nebraska, as a project engineer overseeing its wastewater treatment plant division. In 1980, he founded JJ Westhoff Construction Co.
JJ Westhoff Construction Co. has built more than 150 wastewater treatment facilities and 90 landfill projects throughout the Midwest. He is also the managing member of Green Acres LLC and Kenosha Creek Preserve LLC, which are involved in agribusiness. He has served on the K-State civil engineering advisory council, is a member of the board of trustees of the KSU Foundation and is a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He currently serves on the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering advisory council.
He and his wife Robin, a 1975 K-State graduate in home economics/family and child development, have supported the College of Engineering and the College of Health and Human Sciences at K-State, including investing in the Jerry and Robin Westhoff Concrete Mixing and Curing Lab, each college's excellence fund, an endowed scholarship with the College of Health and Human Sciences and other areas across the Manhattan campus.
