2011 40 Under 40: Ryan Kroll, PE, LEED AP, 31

Ryan Kroll, PE, LEED AP, 31

Impact Evaluation Manager, Michaels Energy, La Crosse, Wis.

Dordt College, BS Mechanical Engineering; Iowa State University, MS Mechanical Engineering

In just three years as impact evaluation manager at Michaels Energy, Kroll has expanded the group from two engineers to more than 10, and annual revenues have increased from $200,000 to $1.8 million. Last year, Kroll’s group contributed roughly one third of the company’s total revenue. His work is typically carried out on behalf of gas and electric utility regulators to ensure cost-effective use of rate-payer funds, which pay for energy-efficiency programs. Kroll is one of the most highly regarded evaluation engineers in the United States, and he manages evaluation projects for dozens of programs delivered by some of the largest utilities in the country, across nine states and Ontario. Kroll also expanded Michaels Energy’s services to include statistical sampling to represent the population of energy-saving projects as a whole. His division works with many different end users, from low-income families to plant engineers, and from utility companies to government regulators. Kroll provides effective communication and training of staff to manage these disparate interests. Because of his technical expertise and commitment to each project, Kroll often represents the company at high-level meetings with leaders of the company’s clients. Kroll has contributed to the industry in various ways, including his master’s thesis, which he completed in 2006. He also delivers in-depth presentations to his firm’s clients and co-authored a complete analysis of geothermal heat pumps for the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce. During his off-time, Kroll likes to mentor engineering students at his alma mater, Dordt College. He is also an active member of his church, where he helps to set up and clean up after church activities, and he helped to resurface the parking lot last year. At home, Kroll enjoys spending time in the garden with his wife, daughter, and son, teaching them about the plants and vegetables they eat.

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