Movers and Shakers 5/13/12

Thomas Antonovich is the general manager of Kautaq Construction Services LLC, a new UIC Construction Services subsidiary. Antonovich has more than 30 years of construction industry experience and recently returned to Alaska after spending two years working with a New Mexico-based construction company. During his time there, he was responsible for growing and transitioning the business from an 8(a) small business to a company capable of pursuing full-and-open contracts on the open market. Antonovich will formalize Kautaq’s 8(a) status, which will allow it to compete for set-aside government contracts. Once that status is in place, Antonovich will pursue and developing a strong backlog of 8(a) set-aside projects.

University of Alaska alumna Kathleen Wattum has been named interim public affairs director for the University of Alaska System. Wattum, 49, previously served as web information coordinator for the public affairs office. She has 22 years of experience at the University of Alaska in public relations, communications and marketing. She has also served as adjunct faculty teaching web design. Wattum will replace Kate Ripley, who is taking a one-year leave of absence to join her husband, University of Alaska Fairbanks professor Brian O’Donoghue, for a sabbatical year in Pune, India, at Symbiosis International University, where O’Donoghue will teach journalism and online reporting. O’Donoghue has been named a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar for Teaching and Research at Symbiosis for the upcoming academic year. Wattum holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska and an associate’s degree in commercial art from Colorado Mountain College.

David K. Johnston is Doyon Emerald’s new vice president and engineering manager. Johnston is a registered professional engineer and has more than 28 years of engineering and operations experience in the oil and gas industry. Johnston will lead Doyon Emerald’s engineering team, providing leadership in detail design, resource planning, budgets, and development. Most recently he served as the Eni Petroleum Facilities engineer manager for the Nikaitchuq development project, where he provided leadership and technical oversight for a $2 billion project from concept to engineering closeout. Johnston has also assisted in generating development drilling opportunities, supervised the design and construction of surface equipment for new and expanding gas fields, and developed reservoir depletion, drilling, and utilization plans. Johnston has served in various executive management and senior level positions at Armstrong Oil and Gas, ASRC Energy Services, Schlumberger Oilfield Services, and Coastal Oil and Gas Corp. Doyon Emerald is a full service engineering and consulting services firm headquartered in Anchorage.

Daniel V. Smith was appointed to serve as interim director of the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ Division of Measurement Standards and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, replacing retiring director Dan Breeden, a 30-year employee who had served in that capacity for the past four years. Smith has been an enforcement officer/inspector at the division for eight years, serving in a variety of capacities including overseeing inspectors statewide, working with the public, device owners and the trucking industry. MSCVE works to ensure accurate trade measurements.

The National Marfan Foundation honored Rita Sholton, former owner and chairman of the board of Alaska’s Northern Air Cargo, with a 2012 Hero with a Heart Award at its Heartworks gala, held April 26 in New York. Sholton, who built Northern Air Cargo into the largest all-cargo airline in Alaska, has been a staunch supporter of the NMF since her granddaughter, Andrea Witte, was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, a potentially fatal condition, in 1998.