David E. Eckmann, SE, PE, FAIA, is the President of Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA), a 195-person structural and civil engineering firm with offices in Seattle and Chicago, and the Managing Principal of MKA’s Chicago office.  Since joining MKA in 2005, he has designed dozens of projects encompassing various building typologies and construction materials. 

Dave is a licensed architect and engineer who often collaborates with architectural clients to blend art and science to create “first-ever” designs optimizing architecture and structure, as evidenced by his work on iconic Chicago projects like Aqua Tower, River Point Tower, Salesforce Chicago, Wolf Point East, and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s vertical headquarters expansion.  His projects earned awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies, American Institute of Architects (AIA), American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), American Society of Civil Engineers, Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI), Urban Land Institute, and other organizations.  He received the John F. Parmer Award in 2021 and the Francis J. Plym Traveling Fellowship in Architecture in 2000–2001. 

An AIA Fellow, Dave has been active with AIA Chicago for nearly 30 years, serving on its Executive Committee and Board of Directors.  His AISC involvement dates back more than 25 years, including roles as Vice Chair of the organization’s North American Steel Construction Conference Planning Committee and the author of Designing with Structural Steel: A Guide for Architects.  A Chicago native, Dave is a member of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (U of I) School of Architecture Tang Committee and a former Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Structural Engineering Conference Committee member.  He is a former Chair of the Chicago Committee on High Rise Buildings and a former Director at SEAOI and the Structural Engineers Foundation.