Meet the people
guiding our work

Kaylyn has 13 years of civil engineering experience designing drainage infrastructure, erosion, and turf establishment for transportation projects. Kaylyn has been responsible for the preliminary and final design for various MNDOT projects throughout the state.

Lacey Porrez is a Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Minnesota with over nine years of experience in the transportation industry. She has a broad background in municipal design and construction, working in the public and private sectors. Lacey specializes in pedestrian and bicycle facilities, prioritizing safety in all her projects. Additionally, she is well-versed in utility coordination and project management and has experience in design-build projects. With a passion for creating safe, efficient, and sustainable transportation infrastructure, Lacey is an invaluable asset to any team.

Gregg has 18 years of combined design engineering and construction project management and administration experience. As a design engineer, he has worked on stormwater drainage systems, including urban sewer systems, infiltration, and filtration basins, underground stormwater treatment structures, culvert replacements, pond cleanouts, and restorations, as well as site development designs, including parking lots, utility connections, and stormwater management. He is also certified in Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan design and construction site management. He has been a task leader on several major projects, including Metro Transit LRT and BRT projects, requiring SWPPP design or inspections. He has also conducted and led several existing conditions site surveys, ranging from BRT corridors in Washington, D.C. to stormwater storage ponds within MnDOT Metro area right-of-ways. Gregg has also acted as construction project manager representing the City of Minneapolis for a roadway reconstruction project and in the private sector for a contractor that specialized in the construction and installation of wastewater treatment lift stations.

Kara has over 20 years of experience, most of which have been in leadership roles and sales.

Kara’s strengths fall in the areas of project management, sales coaching, strategic planning, and interpersonal communications.

Her focus at Rani is creating winning proposals, developing digital and print assets, business development, and collaborating with leadership on achieving initiatives.

Kara holds a BS in Mass Communications from St. Cloud State University.

Jason has 23 years of experience in the surveying industry. He has valuable experience on both public and private sector survey projects. During his career, he has been involved in construction surveying for streets and highways, land development, the subdivision of property, ALTA land title surveys, surveying for telecommunications towers and equipment, surveying for electrical transmission projects, construction surveying for commercial building sites, as-built surveying for MnDOT assets, TAMS data collection and input, preparing right of way maps, surveys for airfield compliance and preparing legal descriptions for easements and property boundaries.

Marcell is a highly experienced professional with 16 years of experience, having previously held the office manager position at a leading rail technology company. He oversaw rail project flow, personnel, and quality control in this role. Marcell has 13 years of expertise in supervision, project management, and engineering, focusing on highway-grade crossing and wayside signaling systems. His technical skills encompass the design, programming, testing, and implementation of signaling solutions, alongside a strong track record in research & development and software testing for crossing warning systems.

Amanda has over 20 years of experience providing Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP), erosion prevention/sediment control design (ESC), and inspection services. She has worked on numerous MnDOT projects throughout the state. Amanda is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC), a Certified Construction SWPPP Designer, and a licensed professional civil engineer in Minnesota.

Darwin has over 27 years of experience in concept development, preliminary and final design, and construction. He has worked on numerous transportation projects, which vary in scope and complexity. Darwin has worked in private and public sectors and has a proven track record of delivering projects from inception to plan development and construction. He has worked on several complex MnDOT transportation projects, which involved a great need for planning, organizing, consensus building, and agency coordination.

Corey has a long history of working with transportation and municipal clients. He is a client and project manager with 20 years of experience in the engineering field. Corey works closely with the project team, agency representatives, contractors, and surveyors throughout the design and construction of transit and transportation projects. His experience includes project management, engineering, construction management, and inspection.

Peter brings more than 13 years of transit design and construction experience. His technical experience includes program and project management, agency and stakeholder coordination, utility coordination, preliminary engineering, final design oversight, and design coordination for transit projects, including light rail and bus rapid transit. While with Metro Transit, Peter spent eight years designing and constructing several light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) projects, including the Blue Line LRT Extension, Orange Line BRT, A Line Rapid Bus, Green Line LRT, and Red Line BRT.

Lance Newman has 30 years of experience. He is one of the area’s most experienced and respected experts in utility coordination. Lance’s focus for over 20 years has been utility coordination and design, including leading utility coordination on some of the biggest civil design and construction projects in Minnesota’s history. He has led utility coordination for a variety of MnDOT and Metropolitan Council projects throughout the state.

Patti has over 20 years’ experience, most of which has been in the engineering, construction and O&M industries.  Her responsibilities have spanned both domestic and international regions for groups with diverse markets and labor pools, including transportation, environmental services, water/wastewater and construction services.

Patti’s strengths fall in the areas of resource development, recruiting/hiring, on-boarding, strategic staff planning, succession planning, project management, structural/organizational change management, remote team and resource management, all of which are critical to achieving our business goals.

Her focus is linking her extensive experience to our strategies, ensuring Rani is a premier employer of choice.

Patti holds a BS in Psychology from Carroll University.

Greg has over 13 years of civil engineering experience.  Throughout his career, Greg has led multiple teams consisting of engineers, designers, sales staff and machinists.  He looks for ways to build and strengthen relationships, improve service and create a culture of collaboration & excellence to support innovation.

Greg graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.S in Civil Engineering.

Steve has more than 15 years of experience in transportation planning, project management, and the United States Army as a Captain. His relevant experience includes working with large cities to implement ITS solutions such as airport landside operations management, transit solutions using transit signal priority (TSP), and public safety traffic signal preemption for first responders. Steve has a positive reputation for strong leadership and superior business practices. He has valuable knowledge in public infrastructure, transit, and public safety. Steve is committed to providing excellent leadership and first-rate communication, with a clear vision to guide Rani into becoming a full-service firm.

Steve was previously a United States Army Engineering Officer. His degrees include an M.S. in Urban Planning from Mankato State University and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.