1/29/2026 Taylor Parks
Written by Taylor Parks
Mechanical engineering alumnus Michael Rutkowski (BSME 1989) is the newly named vice president of the MechSE Alumni Board, and the role is fitting.
“I got a lot out of my experience as a student [in MechSE],” said Rutkowski, who has served on the alumni board for the last five years. “In giving back, I came full circle. I’ve been able to help influence the type of graduates that [companies like mine] would hire.”
Rutkowski currently serves as Regional Global Practice Manager for the Great Lakes region of 1898 & Co, the business and technology consulting arm of Burns & McDonnell. Rutkowski’s team advises energy infrastructure companies on investment planning decisions and operational improvements needed to support the transition to a clean, affordable, reliable, and resilient energy system of the future.
“We provide professional services to energy infrastructure owners, operators, and developers,” said Rutkowski, whose team works with more than 40 clients each year. “We help companies make decisions about where they invest in energy infrastructure, what type of infrastructure it involves, and how to plan for that infrastructure in the most cost-effective, expedient way possible.”
Rutkowski’s journey as an engineer began as a family affair—his parents and brother all attended Illinois. “I knew I wanted to be an engineer, so Illinois was an easy choice,” Rutkowski said. “It was actually the only school I applied to. I’d always planned on following in the family footsteps and going to a great place.”
Outside of academics, Rutkowski fondly remembers watching the Flyin’ Illini during his senior year. “I went to a lot of games and was able to enjoy the ride,” he recalled.
Following his graduation, Rutkowski worked as a field engineer for General Electric before taking a position as senior engineer at Sargent & Lundy, during which time he also completed his MBA in finance at Northwestern University.
“I ended up finishing [my MBA] at a time when the whole electric industry was undergoing deregulation,” he recalled. “The industry structure was changing dramatically, so I moved into a management consulting career that was largely about helping industry electric and gas utility categories restructure their businesses to adapt to the new regulatory model and the new business opportunities that it provided.”
In 2019, Rutkowski became Senior Vice President of Research & Technology Development at GTI Energy before transitioning to 1898 & Co. in 2023.
“I’ve always been an all-of-the-above proponent as far as energy solutions,” he said. “These definitely include renewable electricity generation, a smarter grid, and clean fuels, but we have to make that transition cost-effectively, so we need to leverage our existing infrastructure for some time.”
In his 30+ years of experience in the energy industry, Rutkowski has found fruitful opportunities to support students.
“When recruiting new members to my team, I’ve always made sure that Grainger Engineering was included,” he said. “I became connected with the MechSE Alumni Board through recruiting, and I was at a point where I wanted to give back.”
He also previously sponsored Senior Capstone Design (ME 470) teams and just recently became involved with the new Grainger Engineering Chicago Advancement Board.
Speaking from experience, Rutkowski notes the benefit of a mechanical background for young engineers interested in the energy field.
“Mechanical engineering is broad enough that you work with many different elements of a system and develop a solution that puts all those components together,” he said. “You may not be the single expert in any one of those components, but if you have enough understanding of how the system works, as well as how to solve a problem, you can be very confident that you’ll put together a solution that works. We’re looking for that problem-solving skillset on our team.”