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​The Kane County Division of Transportation is pleased to announce the promotion of two staff members to key leadership positions. Michael Zakosek, P.E., former Chief of Design, has been selected to fill the new Assistant County Engineer position.  Jennifer O'Connell, P.E., former Senior Project Manager, has been promoted to the Chief of Design.

“The creation of the Assistant County Engineer position is a continuing step in KDOT's transition planning efforts for the future of the division," states Carl Schoedel, County Engineer and Director of Transportation for KDOT, “the management team has been working to address continuity of operations and to recognize our emerging leaders. Promoting Mike and Jennifer offers us the opportunity to continue to develop their skills as part of the next generation of leaders here at KDOT."

Michael Zakosek, P.E.

Mike Zakosek earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He spent three years with an engineering consultant working on a variety of projects, including construction management of roadways and a wetland mitigation bank, design of site and transportation improvements, and internal client staffing assistance.

He joined the Kane County Division of Transportation in 1998 as a project manager and has been responsible for the County's bridge program, including inspections, budgeting, and managing repair, rehabilitations and replacements.  Mike was selected as Design Section Chief in 2014.  Since then he has managed the group of project managers overseeing the design of all of KDOT's capital improvements, as well as the pavement management and preservation efforts.  Mike also is the phase II project manager for the Longmeadow Parkway project and, as Assistant County Engineer, will continue to lead the effort to complete the project and open the entire corridor to traffic.

Mike and his wife, Michelle, live in western Kane County.

Jennifer O'Connell, P.E.

Jennifer O'Connell earned her BS in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2001. For the next 12 years Jennifer worked as a design engineer in private industry in southern California and then in Chicago. She began her design career working in site design contributing to many interesting building sites including a few high rises in downtown Chicago and then for the O'Hare Modernization Program.

Jennifer joined KDOT in 2014 as a Senior Project Manager, and was instrumental in completing a number of challenging roadway projects including the disconnection of Weld Road at Randall Road and new entrance ramp onto eastbound US 20, Randall Road and Stearns Road intersection improvements which completed the Stearns Road Corridor improvements, and the signal installation and realignment at  Kirk Road and Dunham Road in St. Charles.

Jennifer has also managed the implementation of the first roundabouts on our county system at Burlington Road and IL 47 in 2016 and Burlington Road at Bolcum Road in 2020. As Chief of Design, Jennifer will lead KDOT's engineering design staff in the management of 50 projects in various stages of development.

Jennifer, her husband and their two daughters love to bicycle around St. Charles where they live and play a lot of chess. Jennifer also leads a Girl Scout troop and is dedicated to her yoga and Taekwondo practice.

KDOT is pleased to welcome Mike and Jennifer to the management team.