Matt Wessale , (age 30) field services manager, Westwood Professional Services, Minneapolis, has been at the fore- front of development of modern pile load tests that are a primary tool in the design of solar pile foundations. In 2013, Wessale oversaw more than 8,000 load tests and managed design, procurement, and installation of more than 170,000 piles across 25 solar projects in Ontario. He developed new load testing tools and techniques that allowed his team to complete load tests in 30 minutes each using two people — an 89 percent reduction in production hours and related costs. Wessale returned to the U.S. and started his own company, Solar Foundation Services; at the end of 2015 his team joined Westwood Professional Services. He now oversees a team of engineers who design and test energy infrastructure foundations across the U.S. Wessale put Westwood on the map for offering construction support services by developing a digital product to support onsite construction tracking and inspections. He serves as the chair of a committee within Westwood’s power division, focused on product diversification and innovation. Rising Stars in STRUCTURAL Engineering Hamed Babaizadeh, P.E., LEED AP BD+C , (age 31) bridge engineer, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD), Baton Rouge, La., is bridge representative for a variety of LADOTD projects from bridge design feasibility studies to new bridge design and replacement/rehabilitation of existing bridges. His highlighted ex- perience at LADOTD is developing special details for slab span bridges with widths from 30 feet to 44 feet using finite element models in accordance with AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and the LADOTD Bridge Design and Evaluation Manual. Babaizadeh has published many widely cited peer-reviewed journal papers and conference proceedings in the fields of structural design and sustainability of construction materials by performing a hybrid environmental-economic life cycle assessment. He has been a mentor for high school and undergraduate students getting prepared for civil engineering competitions such as concrete strength and spaghetti bridge competitions and served as jury and executive committee member for the National Lightweight Concrete Competitions. Michael Baron, P.E., S.E. , (age 33) project manager and structural engineer, The Chazen Companies, Troy, N.Y., founded the Expertise Project (EP; www.expertiseproject.org), a New York State Benefit Corporation that improves the way that expertise is transferred between students and professionals. His team interviews professionals, edits the video, and distributes it using a web-based platform in a fun, visual, and memorable way that’s made available to students and the public. EP, initially focusing on structural and civil engineering students and professionals in New York State, is based on Baron’s experiences developing structural engineering expertise and mentoring and onboarding students and entry level engineers. The New York State Workforce Development Institute awarded EP a development grant based on its potential to convey knowledge and information about careers in structural engineering while developing a framework that could be used in other sectors in the future. Baron was the project manager and design engineer on two projects that won Diamond Awards from the ACEC New York Chapter in 2017 — the Kaal Rock Connector, a feasibility study to construct a world-class pedestrian walkway along the Hudson River; and the Revere Smelting and Refinery Wet Electrostatic Precipitator. Sam Brockshus , (age 26) designer, ISG, Mankato, Minn., in addition to serving as project manager and lead struc- tural designer on ISG projects, is a member of ISG’s Bluebeam Training Committee, which was created to develop Bluebeam software skills companywide, and ISG’s ESOP Committee, a group that was formed to facilitate communi- cation, provide information, and build trust between employee owners and leadership within ISG. Brockshus served as lead structural designer for Mill City Senior Community in Faribault, Minn., a ground-up three-story building constructed using conventional wood framing plus an at-grade precast parking garage on the first floor. He also serves as lead structural designer for an ongoing project at Blue Star Power Systems in North Mankato, Minn., comprising a $15 million manufacturing facility constructed primarily of steel and precast concrete. He currently serves on the structural design team for the City of Eagle Grove Water Reclamation Facility in Eagle Grove, Iowa. Brockshus has been a Big Brother Big Sister mentor since 2013 and was named the Mankato Family YMCA’s mentor of the year for 2018.
Matt Wessale
Hamed Babaizadeh, P.E., LEED AP BD+C
Michael Baron, P.E., S.E.
Sam Brockshus
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csengineermag.com
may 2018
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