PE
I have had the privilege of being a structural engineer for more than 40 years, all at THP. In that span of time, our firm has both grown a lot and run the gamut of a structural engineering practice. Within the firm, my roles have included engineer, principal-in-charge, operations, and member of the board of directors.
I grew up with a couple of generations of builders. I learned construction hands-on from foundations to roofing, and something of the trades in between. Even now, I enjoy the opportunity to build something, though at a slower pace, and this hard hat perspective colors my designs. It is important to me to produce a structure that not only performs as expected by code, but that can be assembled in a practical and efficient manner.
I studied engineering at the University of Cincinnati, which included co-op assignments at Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel (builder of the St. Louis Arch) and the Ohio Department of Transportation. I earned a bachelor’s in civil engineering, summa cum laude, in 1979 and a master’s in structural engineering in 1991 (part-time coursework took a while). My master’s project involved the documentation of floor vibrations during real-time events.
As the engineer of record for many projects around the country, I am a registered PE in 12 states, from the eastern seaboard to Idaho.
This career has been both challenging and rewarding. What I enjoy most is the variety of projects which have come my way, including new office and retail buildings, performing art centers, a ballpark, re-purposing a couple of historic buildings into a hotel, implosions of a bridge and steel parking structure, renovations, failure investigations, a myriad of small structures, and much more. But regardless of a project’s size or purpose, each is put together from inception to ribbon cutting by a team of individuals with a common goal. The real job is interacting with people, sharing perspectives, and developing solutions that fit each scenario. This is what I look forward to with each new opportunity.