Alaska Railroad promotes O'Dowd to director of engineering

Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC) has promoted Brian O'Dowd to director of engineering services.

O'Dowd has more than 10 years of experience working on multidisciplinary projects throughout Alaska as a project manager, asset owner, contractor and consultant. His background includes construction and maintenance projects for airports, harbors, pipelines, railroads, roadways and vertical buildings. He has served in roles ranging from project and construction management to strategic and cross-functional team collaboration, to risk assessment and cost estimation, to legal and regulatory consulting.

O'Dowd first worked for ARRC in the mid-2000s as an intern. After graduating from the University of Alaska Anchorage, he managed and directed projects for various engineering firms. He returned to ARRC as a project manager in 2018 and was promoted to senior project manager in 2021.

O'Dowd's experience at ARRC and with previous employers made him the clear choice to fill the position of engineering services director, ARRC officials said in a press release.

"Brian’s intra-department experience is a great advantage in supporting our capital investment and infrastructure improvement plans and projects," said ARRC Vice President and Chief Engineer Brian Lindamood. "Plus, his years in the private sector provide reliability and range to Brian’s abilities."

O'Dowd succeeds Christian Ryll, who retired after 33 years of service to the railroad.