Team

Craig Thingvold has been involved in performing power system studies since 2006 and has been with Excel Engineering since 2007.  His expertise is in the area of arc flash, short circuit and coordination studies and also in the area of transmission planning and analysis, including dynamic and steady state analysis.  He is a graduate of North Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering (power option) and a graduate of North Dakota State College of Science with an Associate in Science Degree in Pre-Engineering.  Prior to Excel Engineering, Craig interned for Lightowler Johnson Associates where he was responsible for designing electrical systems for commercial and residential buildings and also worked as an electrician on commercial and residential electrical systems through Bergstrom Electric, Inc. Craig is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Minnesota , as well as several other states. Please contact Excel Engineering for current PE registration information .

Justin Nielsen has been involved in controls and automation engineering since 1999 and has a strong background in areas of pharmaceutical, chemical, and power generation. Justin performed the lead control system engineering on several multi-million dollar control system upgrade projects for Praxair and 3M, he was a lead onsite control system engineer at the Genmab Brooklyn Park, MN facility and was also a Technical Consultant for Rockwell Automation. Justin is highly skilled in several PLC, HMI and DCS platforms including: Rockwell, Emerson DeltaV, Schneider and Siemens. Justin holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. He is an ISA member, an ISA Certified Automation Professional (CAP) and a Registered Professional Control Systems Engineer in the State of Minnesota , as well as other states. Please contact Excel Engineering for current PE registration information.

Daryl Norgard joins the Excel Engineering team in January 2013 to add 18 years of controls and automation experience.  His career began in the Automotive Industry with Fanuc Robotics after attending the Robotics Automated Systems Technology program at Central Lakes College where he earned an Associates of Applied Science Degree.  He has worked in many different industries since and has become skilled in a variety of PLC, HMI and SCADA systems from manufacturers such as Rockwell, GEFanuc, and Omron to provide new automation solutions and support to existing systems.  In addition to providing electrical design and programming, Daryl has led startup crews and managed projects to meet the documented design requirements.

Perry Kuznar has over 34 years of engineering and sales experience in the power utility, engineering services and manufacturing industries. He most recently served as Principle Applications Engineer for Turbine Technologies, Ltd. of Chetek, Wisconsin; a manufacturer of high-end laboratory training equipment for engineering universities and technical institutes.
Perry’s broad experience includes; product hardware development, operator manual /curriculum development, factory-direct global product sales, establishing sales rep alliances and developing sales and marketing strategies and tools. He has traveled extensively domestically and internationally to support sales, including a successful trip across China to establish in-country representation and make sales presentations to leading universities.
Perry received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and is a Registered Professional Engineer. He also obtained a Supervisory Management diploma from Chippewa Valley Technical College-Eau Claire.
Perry is married to Kathleen and they have two daughters and a son. He enjoys long-distance cycling, running and flying.

Steve Eichten has a B. S. degree in Accounting from St. Cloud State University. Prior to joining Excel Engineering, Steve has been working for manufacturing companies for 28 years including stops at a liquor bottling company, a medical plastics packaging company and an ESD packaging company serving the electronics industry. Working in Controller and CFO positions for these manufacturing companies, his primary areas of responsibility included Accounting and Finance, Human Resources and Information Systems. Steve enjoys working on lean processes and continuous improvements in helping companies improve, reach goals and succeed.

Mike has nearly 20 years of experience in the engineering and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) fields with positions varying from engineering management to project management. Mike has worked in industries ranging from electric power generation, waste-to-energy, industrial manufacturing, water treatment and food/beverage. With professional capabilities and experience in commercial negotiation, proposal development/management, estimate development, risk management, change management and engineering personnel management, Mike is able to successfully manage projects to achieve established project success criteria. Mike has worked previously for Wood plc (formerly Amec Foster Wheeler) in Minneapolis, MN and Wheelabrator Air Pollution Control, Siemens Power Generation and Foster Wheeler in Pittsburgh, PA. Mike holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Project Management Institute certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Reggie Anderson has over 34 years experience in industries such as Pharmaceutical, Food, Utilities, Nonwovens, Carbon Fiber, Chemical, and Pulp and Paper just to name a few. I have worked with large A&E firms, and directly for manufacturing. I have worked both in a design role for many years with past experience with instrumentation, PLC’s, DCS, Variable Speed Drives, and commissioning and startups. I have international project experience working on projects in England, Germany, and Taiwan. My most recent experience has been in the area of Project Management for small and large size projects.

Adam has been involved in industrial automation over the last 20 years. His controls experience includes applications primarily within consumer goods, medical device, and nonwovens, but he has also spent time as a field service engineer for Rockwell supporting many other types of customer applications. He graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering but has lived in Minnesota since 2010. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management with an MBA in 2019. He has been a certified Project Management Professional since 2013.