Houston Office Leadership

John Lionberger, PE, leads the Houston office of Burns & McDonnell as senior vice president and general manager. In the past decade, he grew the office from eight employees to nearly 200, with the sixth office expansion planned for late 2011. Lionberger enjoys developing leaders within the firm and started a monthly training series to inspire effective leadership. His leadership has resulted in project awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies and the Texas Council of Engineering Companies; rankings as of one the largest Houston-area energy and civil and structural engineering firms by the Houston Business Journal; and consistent recognition as One of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas and Houston. Lionberger has also been published in Transmission & Distribution World, Electric Light & Power, Energy Manager, and CCE News. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico and Wyoming and is a member of IEEE, Vistage and the Greater Houston Partnership CEO Roundtable. Lionberger received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Bradley University.

Mike Meenan, PE, leads the Environmental Group for the Houston office of Burns & McDonnell. In his more than three decades of environmental engineering experience, including compliance and restoration, Meenan has successfully worked in all major areas of environmental consulting including technical, program and project management; operations responsibility; personnel management; and sales and marketing. He is a registered professional engineer and corrective action program manager in Texas. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineering and the Society of American Military Engineers. Meenan received his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from West Virginia University.

Randy Schmidt, PE, is the Southwest regional manager for the Aviation & Facilities Group at Burns & McDonnell. In his more than a decade of experience managing large projects, Schmidt has gained a meaningful understanding of how management, technical, schedule and cost considerations must be optimally balanced in order for a project to be successful. He specializes in design, engineering and construction of aviation facilities for military and private sector clients, refinery and petrochemical support facilities, and industrial facilities. He is registered professional engineer in Missouri and is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers and national engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi. Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri.

Ryan Spangler, PE, leads the Process & Industrial Group for the Houston office of Burns & McDonnell. Spangler and his team provide process design solutions and full engineer-procure-construct (EPC) project delivery for clients in the oil refining, gas processing and chemical industries. Spangler has been with Burns & McDonnell for 15 years and previously worked as a senior process engineer who focused on project development, process design and optimization. With this strong emphasis on process design, Spangler and his group excel in working with clients from the earliest stages of conceptual development through front-end planning, detailed engineering and construction. Spangler is a registered professional engineer in Texas and Kansas and has been published in Oil & Gas Journal and Power Engineering. He received a Master of Science in engineering management and a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas.

Dick Wechtenhiser leads the Construction/Design-Build Group for the Houston office of Burns & McDonnell. In his more than 35 years of experience in engineering, procurement and construction of projects, Wechtenhiser has focused on electrical transmission and distribution infrastructure, healthcare facilities, water and wastewater infrastructure and petro-chemical facilities. He works closely with owners, architects, engineers and facility operators to maximize project success. Wechtenhiser is a member of the Design-Build Institute of America. He holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering technology from the University of Texas and a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Texas A&M University.

 Allen Xi, PE, leads the Transmission & Distribution Group for the Houston office of Burns & McDonnell. In this role, he is responsible for the overall profit and loss for power delivery projects in the South and client satisfaction. His duties include contract administration and quality assurance to ensure projects meet clients' goals, objectives and expectations. In his nearly two decades of experience, he has been involvemed in the design and management of substation projects ranging from 2.3-kV through 345-kV, power system studies from 69-kV through 500-kV and high-voltage DC links. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas and is a member of the IEEE Substation Standard Committee and CIGRE. Xi received an MBA from the University of Kansas, Master of Science in electrical engineering from EPRI China and Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Wuhan in China.