Alumni Profile: Allison Bruner, E'14, G'15

When reflecting on her engineering career, Allison Bruner's thoughts are always close to home. With more than a decade in the workforce, knowing she took part in caring for and improving the roads she herself drives on in Kansas City and across Kansas is enough.

“It’s a big point of pride for me,” she said. “Being able to positively contribute to my community is huge. We’re a quiet industry in terms of looking for public recognition, but knowing personally that I’ve made a difference is enough.”

Bruner’s quiet pride has carried her from an ambitious civil engineering student within the CEAE department to a project manager at Burns & McDonnell, one of the country’s most respected engineering firms. Along the way, she has done her part to advocate for transportation systems that benefit all users, mentor the next generation of engineers and worked to provide platforms for all voices to be heard in a historically male-dominated field.

Growing up in Topeka, Kansas, Bruner was quite literally stuck in the middle of a difficult decision. Both her mom and sister are alumni of Kansas State University, just an hour west of her hometown, but Lawrence and KU were calling her east.

“KU wasn’t necessarily the popular choice,” she said with a laugh. “But I had my dad on my team as an ally. I walked onto KU’s campus, and it felt right. I have never questioned my choice.”

During her undergrad, Bruner majored in civil engineering, earning her bachelor’s degree in 2014 and her master’s just a year later with a focus on transportation engineering. From the beginning, her sense of belonging followed her into the engineering campus.

“The engineering buildings are a little offset from the rest of campus, and that distance makes you feel insulated,” she explained. “You’ve got your people you see regularly that are all working toward a common goal. It was easy to find community there.”

Bruner’s community not only extended to her fellow classmates, but through her involvement in student organizations like the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), both of which are still going strong today. However, it was her participation in KU’s Concrete Canoe team that she remembers most fondly.

“We were regional champions, but we were way out of our depth at nationals,” she said. “Our canoe was so heavy compared to the others that when they went to weigh it, they dropped it. They gave our team the spirit award because we laughed it off.”

Like many college students, Bruner wasn’t certain of her career path at first.

She admitted, “I just happened to guess the right major for myself at 18.”

Initially, she started in general engineering and took the time to compare the course requirements across the disciplines to find the best fit: civil engineering. The confirmation of this as the correct choice for her came during a test with a tricky question about a hexagonal pipe – something that doesn’t actually exist.

“Everyone else seemed stressed out by that curveball of a question,” she said. “But I thought it was a fun problem to solve. That was the moment I knew I was in the right place.”

Her passion for transportation design emerged early. Drawn to the art and science of shaping curves, alignments and intersections in roadway geometrics, Bruner knew she wanted to do something to help make her community roadways safe and functional.

“It’s physical infrastructure you can see,” she said. “Everyone uses some form of the transportation system, whether that’s walking, biking, driving or taking public transportation. I love that what I do impacts people’s daily lives.”

She first got a taste of tangible, meaningful work in the summer of 2012, at her first internship with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).

“I knew almost nothing,” she said. “So, I read a lot of the transportation engineering manuals that I still use today.”

More than just book learning, Bruner was also allowed to take part in helping field check a bridge in western Kansas. This process allows engineers and designers to see the actual conditions a project will be built under and can help the team make adjustments as necessary. However, Bruner’s experience wasn’t run-of-the-mill.

Flying out on the governor’s private jet – a rare perk used when flying was cheaper than hotels and long drives and, most likely, isn’t used often today – Bruner and her team were eating lunch when they got the message that the field check was off thanks to an accident involving a truck crashing into the bridge.

“So, we just finished our lunch and flew back,” she said. “It is probably my only private jet experience ever.”

After her graduation, Bruner began working with engineering firms in the Kansas City area, gaining experience at small, mid-sized and large companies. While she once imagined staying at one firm her entire career, she discovered that change brought growth.

“I’ve learned to be adaptable,” she said. “With each move, you get new perspectives and values. I like to think you just keep getting to growing your work family.”

Her portfolio of work spans municipal and state projects, with particular pride in design-build work where engineers and contractors collaborate closely from start to finish. One standout was the reconstruction of North Oak Trafficway near Waterworks Park in Kansas City, Missouri.

“It had this amazing view of the Kansas City skyline,” she said. “I had spent months designing it, then got to meet weekly with contractors and watch the construction in real time. That experience was invaluable.”

Today, Bruner’s career has shifted from hands-on design to project management. This transition has been both challenging and rewarding.

“My job now is more about working with the clients, keeping all the pieces moving and making sure we meet schedules and budgets,” she said.

Her daily work now involves anticipating client needs, triaging next steps and ensuring her team has what they need to succeed. It’s less about equations and more about relationships.

“So much of my job now is interacting with people,” she said. “Whether a client wants to work with me depends on how I manage communication and expectations. That’s something I never expected early in my career.”

Transportation engineering is currently undergoing rapid evolution in many ways, including the focus of design to be centered around non-vehicular transportation and Bruner is at the center of some of those efforts. She currently helps manage KDOT’s Active Transportation Enhancements program, which focuses on building safe facilities for pedestrians and cyclists across Kansas.

“There has been a big shift toward focusing on vulnerable road users,” she says. “It’s about making sure everyone can get to their destination safely, whether they’re in a car or not.”

She also notes the rise of safety-focused design practices, the growing influence of human factors and the looming presence of artificial intelligence.

“We’re learning that some of the things the industry traditionally thought made roads safer actually encourage speeding,” she said with a laugh. “Now the industry is rethinking how to design for realistic human behavior.”

Beyond her day-to-day work, Bruner is deeply engaged in professional organizations. She serves on the CEAE department’s Advisory Board as well as the Belonging and Inclusion Advisory Board for the School of Engineering. She also holds leadership roles in the Kansas City Metro chapters of the American Public Works Association and Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), where she is slated to become president in 2026.

Her work with WTS is one she notes is especially meaningful.

“It can be hard to find your place when you first begin in an industry,” she said. “WTS gave me a set of people who share those experiences and helped me build lasting relationships with friends, mentors, and colleagues. Some of my jobs have come through those connections.”

Looking back, Bruner emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and follow-through for young engineers.

“Everyone can learn the technical aspects,” she said. “The real work is learning how to work with others, knowing your strengths and weaknesses and understanding how you function in a team. Follow through on what you say you’ll do and build that trust.”

The shortage of engineers in today’s workforce is both a blessing and a curse, Bruner acknowledges.

“It’s a steep learning curve, but it’s also a huge opportunity,” she said.

Her own career proves that success in engineering is as much about adaptability and people skills as it is about technical mastery.

“At the end of the day, I just want to deliver successful projects for my clients and make life easier for whoever I interact with,” she said. “That’s what keeps me going.”