About our Sessions
TxDOT Districts Panel
Mike
Arellano PE
Deputy District Engineer
TxDOT – Austin
Mike serves as Deputy District Engineer for the Austin District. He has 27 years of experience in transportation engineering. Mike received a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997. He started working for TxDOT as a contract employee through the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) of the University of Texas at Austin during his undergraduate years. Upon graduation, he started his TxDOT career with the Materials and Pavement section of Construction Division as a geotechnical engineer. In 2006, he had to move to the Austin District ass the Materials and Pavement engineer. In 2014, Mike then became the District Maintenance Engineer and two year later he became the Director of Maintenance for the Austin District. In March 2018, the Austin District merged maintenance and traffic operations and Mike became the first Director of Operations for the Austin District. As of September 2019, Mike moved to his current position as Deputy District Engineer. In his time with the Austin District, he has led multiple humanitarian effort like Mobility35 Initiative to Address Homelessness, the supportive transitional housing project called Esperanza Community and Human Trafficking Awareness initiatives.
Charles Benavidez PE
Deputy District Engineer
TxDOT – San Antonio
Charles received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University – Kingsville in May 2006 and earned his Professional Engineer license in December 2010. He began his career with TxDOT as a summer hire in 2004 working on the JFK Causeway project and continued his career with TxDOT in the Corpus Christi District as an Engineering Assistant in the Sinton Area Office where he inspected the construction of the SH 89 Relief Route. In June 2008, he rotated to the Central Design office where he assisted with developing plans in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
In January 2010, Charles rotated to the Corpus Christi Area office as a Transportation Engineer and continued to learn construction project management and maintenance operations. After two years at the Area Office and a year working in the private sector, he accepted a position as the Assistant Area Engineer in the Alice Area Office in 2014.
In June 2015, Charles served as the Sinton Area Engineer where he oversaw the completion of the SH 35 Copano Bay Bridge project. In July of 2017, he accepted the position as the Corpus Christi Area Engineer where he quickly stepped in and helped lead response teams in the Hurricane Harvey clean-up efforts. He oversaw the construction and upgrade of 12 miles of the IH 69E corridor, construction of SH 44 to interstate standards, and the continued upgrades to SH 358 in Corpus Christi. He also oversaw the construction of the new Ferry Stacking lanes on SH 361 in Port Aransas.
In July 2021, Charles began serving as the Deputy District Engineer for the Corpus Christi District. In this role he oversaw the District Construction, Maintenance and Traffic Operations.
In March of 2022 Charles began serving as the Deputy District Engineer for the San Antonio District. In this role he oversees the District Maintenance, Traffic, Construction and Planning efforts.
Martin C.
Horst PE
District Engineer
TxDOT – Yoakum
Martin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin in May 1986 and earned his Professional Engineer license in January 1992.
Martin has been with the Texas Department of Transportation for 37 years serving in several districts (Corpus Christi, El Paso, and Yoakum) and in positions as Area Engineer, Director of Construction, Deputy District Engineer, and currently as District Engineer for the Yoakum District.
Lance W. Simmons PE
Chief Engineer
TxDOT
A 28-year TxDOT veteran, Lance officially began his career with the Department in 1994 in the Atlanta District’s Design Office (after working three summers in the Atlanta Area Office).
Through the Young Engineers’ Rotation Program, Lance also worked in the Advance Planning, Traffic and Atlanta Area Offices. From 2001 to 2009, Lance served as the Atlanta District’s Bridge/Special Projects Engineer before being selected as its Director of Operations in 2010. He was named District Engineer in the Bryan District in March 2015. Since August 2021, Lance has served as TxDOT’s Director of Engineering & Safety Operations.
In 2014, Lance was honored with the 2014 Luther DeBerry Award at the Transportation Short Course.
As a Terry Scholar at Texas A&M University, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1994.
Stanley Swiatek PE
District Engineer
TxDOT – Waco
Tomas
Trevino PE
District Engineer
TxDOT – El Paso
Tomas is the District Engineer for the TxDOT El Paso District, the largest TxDOT district by geographical area consisting of six counties: El Paso, Culberson, Brewster, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis and Presidio. He oversees the planning, designing, building, operation and maintenance of the state transportation system for the six-county District.
Tomas came to El Paso from the Corpus Christi District, where he served as Deputy District Engineer.
His position included managing the district’s Alternative Delivery Program, with oversight on the new Harbor Bridge Design-Build Project. A 27-year veteran of the Department, Tomas served in many
roles during his tenure in the Corpus Christi District, including Geometric Design Engineer, Alice Area Engineer, and Director of Operations. As Director of Operations he led the Hurricane Harvey
response for the district and oversaw clean-up efforts bringing safety and hope to communities along the coast.
Tomas has a wealth of knowledge and leadership experience. He has been involved with various committees across the state and his role in the Area Engineer training class these past few years demonstrate his commitment to developing our employees and the future of the Department.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&I University in 1991, Tomas had a short stint with the Washington Department of Transportation in Seattle, but he moved back to Texas in 1992 and began work with TxDOT’s Corpus Christi District as an Engineering Assistant for the Sinton Area office.
