BRANCH MEETING: September 17, 2015

Atascadero Residential Home Geotechnical Case Study & New Officer Installation

Dennis Shallenberger, GE, Principal Engineer of Earth Systems Pacific will present a spell binding, on-the-edge-of-your-seat account of a house that was inadvertently constructed on a landslide in the hills of Atascadero.  It is a story of low budget mentality, incompetence, and catastrophic financial loss for a local family who unfortunately put their faith in some very poor geologic and geotechnical advice. Dennis will impart a lasting lesson of the importance of geotechnical engineering in the common world. A simple overlook can lead to devastating consequences.

After hearing our inspiring speaker, we will meet our new officer Board. Our newly elected officers for 2015-16 will be installed this month. This year's Board brings new faces to our local leadership, and looks forward to leading our Branch forward!

Location
Madonna Inn
100 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA

Date & Time
Thursday September 17, 2015 - 12:00 pm

Click here for more information and to sign up.

PROFILES: DENNIS SHALLENBERGER, REGISTERED CIVIL & GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER

By Rebekah Oulton, PhD, PE
September 7, 2015

Member Profile: Dennis Shallenberger

Dennis Shallenberger is a Registered Civil and Geotechnical Engineer in California, and a Registered Civil Engineer in Nevada.  Currently, he is the Chief Geotechnical Engineer for Earth Systems Pacific, and gave up teaching part-time after 22 years in the Architectural Engineering Department at Cal Poly.  He is a past president of the San Luis Obispo Branch of ASCE and served for over eight years on the Advisory Board of the Division of the State Architect (DSA).  These illustrious credentials are even more impressive when you know the path that led him to achieve them…

Dennis was raised in Southern California where he preferred to take advantage of plentiful outdoor activities such as surfing, sailing, and riding his dirt bike, rather than school.  This passion followed him to U of Montana, where he took up skydiving to supplement his education.  He made over 200 jumps, despite that fact that an early jump (his 15th ) ended in an off-balance landing that resulted in several broken bones and dislocated joints in Dennis’ left foot.  Ironically, Dennis credits this injury with ultimately saving his life, as it rendered him “unfit for service” when the Vietnam War was at its peak. Instead, he learned sewing – to repair parachutes as a Senior Parachute Rigger, and he claims he can still work a sewing machine with the best of them.

Dennis’ career from there was hardly a straightforward path to into geology. Skydiving led to flying and by the time he was 20 Dennis had his commercial pilot’s license, followed by multi-engine, flight instructor, ground instructor, glider and glider instructor ratings.  He also joined the Missoula Rural Volunteer Fire Department and applied for medic training, allowing him to secure a part-time job as an ambulance medic, ultimately running about 3,000 ambulance calls.  

Eventually, his degree in geology took him back to the sky; upon graduation he got on with Christler Airlines, a commuter and non-scheduled airline based in Thermopolis, Wyoming, shuttling skiers in the winter and smoke jumpers in the summer.  After two years as a fire suppression and spray pilot, Dennis quit Christler to find his fortune in corporate aviation, eventually becoming a corporate pilot with Sorensen and Company, a civil engineering firm with a geotechnical division in Missoula.  On days when he wasn’t flying, Dennis would go out with the geologists to work on the drill rigs.  With the end of the war flooding the aviation job market with experienced pilots, Dennis turned his sights back to earth and the idea of geotechnical engineering as a career slowly developed.  

By 1979 Dennis and his wife-to-be, Diane, quite sensibly decided that that the winters in Montana were too severe to endure any longer, and they relocated to California, where Dennis pursued his Master of Science Civil Engineering (with a geotechnical specialty) at CSU Long Beach.  After completing his degree, Dennis worked  briefly for the Los Angeles Section of the Army Corps of Engineers, as a civil and geotechnical engineer, before he got call from former colleague Mike Sims, offering him a position with Central Coast Labs in San Luis Obispo.  

Since then, the company has moved, burned to the ground, changed names, re-incorporated, merged and re-incorporated two more times, but Dennis has managed to hang on, and he is now approaching his 32nd anniversary working for Earth Systems companies.  After Mike’s retirement, Dennis was promoted to CEO of Earth Systems Pacific, a position he agreed to maintain for five years.  In 2013, he turned the reins of ESP over to Fred Potthast, and Dennis became Chairman of the Board, a position he retains today.  He is now semi-retired, working only four days per week, but with his eye on cutting that to three days per week come January 2016.

Dennis lives in the Edna Valley with his better half, Kim, also a registered civil engineer.  He has one son, David who became an attorney in California and then for some yet-to-be-explained reason moved with his wife to Dallas, Texas.  In his spare time, Dennis enjoys surfing, motorcycles, hiking, bicycling and ocean kayaking. He has given up piloting, but still enjoys travel, his favorite destination being Alaska.

When asked to provide a teaser for his talk, Dennis said “…my talk is about a landslide; a tale of sorrow and woe, poor judgment, bad professional advice, and low budget mentality, all resulting in huge personal loss.”  I can’t wait to hear more!  See you at the meeting!

SPECIAL BPELSG SEMINAR: September 29, 2015

California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists

Please join us for a presentation by Ric Moore, Executive Officer, California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, who will provide an overview of the role and services provided by the Board, licensing procedures, complaints and enforcement procedures and case studies on Board actions.  This is certain to be an extremely informative presentation, and a topic key to all professionals practicing in our disciplines.  Bring your thoughts, questions and issues to have Mr. Moore address first-hand! The $50 registration fee will cover the costs of this presentation plus contribute to our local ASCE SLO Branch Engineering Scholarship Fund!  SCE students are encouraged to attend at the student half-price fee of $25!   Please go to the ASCE SLO branch website, www.asceslo.org, to sign up.  You may contact Steve Tanaka, Wallace Group, at 805-597-7161, or stevent@wallacegroup.us, for further information.

Location
Embassy Suites
333 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Date & Time
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
12:00pm - 2:00pm

Click here for more information and to sign up.