Christine Katz

A smiling woman stands by a municipal map and bookshelf.

Christine Katz - Civil Engineer at the Town of Superior

My job involves organizing and managing road and storm water maintenance and capital improvement projects for the town. This includes identifying projects that need to be completed, finding funding them, and procuring and managing design teams and contractors throughout a project. I am also the town’s floodplain manager and am responsible for the stormwater program. I ensure the town stays in compliance with FEMA’s floodplain management program and Colorado’s stormwater permit requirements. I love spending time with my family and taking my daughters to the park and zoo.

Studying and Working in Civil Engineering

Between enjoying my math and science classes and my parents being engineers, it was a quick path to civil engineering. My first job out of college was in construction management, where I worked on public water and wastewater projects. I got to see how things were built and understand all of the different logistics that are needed to complete a successful construction project–like making sure a column doesn’t block equipment access to part of the project still under construction.

Graduate School and Working in Structural Engineering

After seeing the building process in construction management, I wanted to take a step back and learn more about design. I went to UCLA to earn my masters in structural engineering, which helped me gain a new perspective into why we build things the way we do. With family bringing me to Colorado, I worked for a couple of consulting firms in the Denver area as a structural engineer designing public water and wastewater projects.

Two Down, One to Go

There are three sides to this industry – construction, design, and government. Having spent time on the first two, I decided I wanted to explore the last one – government. After rebuilding my house in the wake of the Marshall Fire, I decided to look to my local government for opportunities—which is how I ended up in my current role in Public Works and Utilities.

Town Capital Improvement & Maintenance Projects

There are many moving parts across all of the projects I manage in the town. This can include constructing new buildings, reconstructing roads, installing new utilities, and maintaining existing utilities. I work with the design consultants, contractors, and other town departments to move projects through the different phases of the building process.

Stormwater

Our stormwater program keeps our storm drains, pipes, and outfalls working so that water drains safely from the town’s streets and neighborhoods. I work closely with a consultant who assists with making sure the town stays in compliance with all of the rules and regulations surrounding stormwater. I make sure the necessary maintenance is done on pipes and water quality ponds, work with Mile High Flood District on large maintenance projects in larger regional ponds and perform public outreach to spread awareness of the town’s stormwater program to the community and businesses.

Communicate

In my job I communicate with everyone from residents to board members to coworkers, and for each one I speak a different “language” prioritizing certain perspectives and pieces of information to make sure people are gaining the information they need. Residents want to know how projects will impact and benefit them, board members need to understand the costs and resources required for the project, and my coworkers and I talk through more technical aspects of each project.

A smiling woman sits at a desk in an office.

My Why

I love working for the town where I live. People don’t usually think about what goes on when they turn on a faucet or flush a toilet – I like understanding and being a part of what goes into maintaining those systems and keeping our town functioning.

My Advice

Lean into the subjects you enjoy and narrow down the field you are interested in. From there it is easy to move around within a field. For example, with civil engineering there is structural engineering design, government public works and utilities, construction management, hydrology, pipeline design, etc. – there are many opportunities within every field.