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!

PROFILES: ANDY ROWE, CIVIL ENGINEER

By Rebekah Oulton, PhD, PE

At this month’s meeting, Project Manager Andy Rowe of Cannon will tell us all about the storm water management efforts incorporated into Paso Robles’ 21st Street “Green Street” Project.  I sat down with Andy yesterday to get to know him a little better…

Andy grew up near Seattle, Washington (where he had LOTS of experience with storm water!), before relocating to SLO to attend Cal Poly.  After graduating in 2004, he returned to Washington (Spokane, this time) and started working while his future wife attended law school.  Together, they returned to snow-free SLO to settle down and start their family. 

Andy started at Cannon in 2007, where he has worked on a variety of projects including commercial and residential development, public infrastructure, streets, and oil fields.  He is a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP), an ISI Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP), and a Qualified SWPPP Developer (QSD).  That’s 14 letters after his name – plus the PE, of course! (Way to go, Andy!)  Clearly, he has excellent qualifications to lead the 21st Street Green Street Improvements, as well as his next project: Paso Robles’ 12th Street Green Street Improvements. 

When he’s not working or building his credentials, Andy enjoys tennis, local hikes, and spending time with his wife and three-month old daughter.  Baby Willa is demanding most of his free time these days, so we are fortunate to have this opportunity to hear from him about the innovative sustainability improvements in the Green Streets Project.  See you there…

PROFILES: JEFF LEE, CIVIL ENGINEER

By Rebekah Oulton, PhD, PE

I first met Jeff Lee when we were both volunteering for a show at the San Luis Obispo Little theater. Neither of us knew the other was an engineer until several months or perhaps even years into our friendship.  That’s community theater – someone’s “real life” doesn’t necessarily come up very often.

But engineering has actually been a central part of Jeff Lee’s life since 1989, when he graduated from Merrimack College in Massachusetts with a degree in Civil Engineering.  After college, Jeff relocated to Calaveras County in California, where he both entered the preliminary rounds of the celebrated frog jumping contest and earned his PE license.  In Calaveras, he worked with a number of Cal Poly grads who turned him on to the idea of living in the San Luis Obispo area.  He relocated here in 1994, just after the Highway 41 fire.

In SLO, Jeff first worked for Greg Luke & Associates, then moved over to EDA in 1997.  (During this period, Jeff’s involvement with theater became more important as well – in 1997, he met and married his lovely wife Mary during a production of the Mikado at the PAC.  )  At EDA, he developed a focus on design and build of gas stations.  Gas station design/build became Jeff’s primary area of specialty when he opened his own firm LHB in 2006.  His clients included gas stations and grocery stores from La Jolla to Redding, including the Oak Hill Shopping Center in Nacimiento.

In 2012, Jeff accepted his current position with SLO County Utilities Division as the Capital Projects Manager, ironically (as he points out) in charge of flooding projects and drought projects.  He worked on the Arroyo Grande Creek Water Management Program (flood control) and the CSA 23 intertie project between Santa Margarita and Atascadero Mutual Water Company (drought relief).  In 2012, Jeff also was elected to a 4-year term on the Grover Beach City Council.

Jeff still does theater, now and then.  He can occasionally be found performing with Murder in Mind Productions or other local theaters, where he has performed as everything from a murderer to an idiotic pirate to a – well, you name it (that’s theater too).  But his responsibilities for the County of SLO and the Grover Beach City Council keep him pretty busy these days.

Jeff is going to share some details of his City Council responsibilities with us at the January 15 lunch meeting.  His topic: Measure K – a $48 million bond for much needed road repair in Grover Beach. Come to the meeting and learn all about it.  And ask Jeff to do his pirate impression...

PROFILES: CITY OF SLO, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR, DARYL GRIGSBY (PART 2/2)

In December, we shared the first part (found here) of a two-part profile on Daryl Grigsby – the new Public Works Director for the City of San Luis Obispo. In this second part, we delve deeper into the life of public service that led him to his present position.

Daryl Grigsby

Photo by: Brian Minami

Written by: Stephanie Hunting

Daryl got his start in government as an administrative analyst for the City of San Diego back in the ‘70s – a job that taught him how to wade through government forms. After several years, he moved up to Government Affairs Liaison for the City Manager. This position gave him insight as to how local governments operated as he worked as a go-between for the City Manager, Mayor, and City Council.

“Going to all of the City Council meetings was an amazing experience,” Daryl recalls. “Really, the local government is just a mirror of our own failings and successes on a public and very visible scale.” Daryl was quick to observe that many problems could be resolved through listening to others and trying to see the bigger picture.

Daryl’s next few years brought about an uncanny pattern of starting a new position only to rise just months later to a role vacated by a supervisor. In the first instance, Daryl rose from San Diego’s Assistant Deputy Director of Water and Wastewater to Deputy when his supervisor resigned. In the early 1990s, after a move to Seattle to become Environmental Programs Manager for a private wastewater and transportation agency, he became Director of Pollution and Control after half a year. Finally, after a mayoral appointment to the City’s Transportation Division Director a few years later, Daryl again received a quick promotion – this time to the City’s Department Head of Transport.

While in Seattle, Daryl learned about alternative mode funding and pursued projects to install traffic improvements, infrastructure improvements, and bike trails. His favorite project was the Spokane Street ViaductMedian Barrier – a powerful safety improvement on a previously treacherous stretch of road. Several appreciative citizens personally testified to and thanked Daryl for the new system, many saying the barrier had likely protected them from horrible accidents.

Daryl began his first role as a Public Works Director for the City of Kirkland– an amalgamation of his previous experience in water, wastewater, transportation, and waste management – in 2005. He received the Washington State Roy Morse Award in 2008, and in 2009 became heavily involved with the National American Public Works Association (APWA).

In 2010, Daryl took on a new Public Works position with the City of Pomona, where he completed a series of essential projects despite the City’s dire financial condition at the time. Perhaps his most engaging project in Pomona centered on making the city of 150,000 more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.

Daryl had long recognized that transportation options are important for a variety of reasons, just one of which is relief of traffic congestion. A group of citizens had been expressing interest in a City affiliation with CicLAvia, an organization dedicated to connecting communities by temporarily shutting down streets to vehicle traffic and allowing pedestrians and cyclists to move freely. City officials had not exactly been openly accepting of the idea, which Daryl recognized as an opportunity for people to connect in a fun, active way that also enhanced community engagement. Daryl’s Ride Around Pomona (RAP) program, born in 2010, saw Pomona residents joining Daryl on 7.5- to 10-mile rides to explore and gain more insight about their hometown. Daryl says the program also sparked higher levels of community involvement in general. Daryl helped Pomona create a Bike Master Plan and pushed for the installation of two Class 2 bike lanes in a city that previously had none. The Pomona Valley Bicycle Coalition has since adopted Daryl’s RAP as one of its monthly rides, keeping the community-led program active.

After noticing the City of San Luis Obispo’s need for a new Public Works Director, Daryl decided to pursue the position. By late 2012, he was making his mark on the public affairs of the Central Coast. Here, he continues to share his zeal to imbue others with an active desire to change their communities. Government is far better when citizens are involved, he says.

Daryl’s biography teems with diversity – a pervasive theme not only in his career path but in his hobbies and social impact. No better word comes to mind than “multifaceted” as an embodiment of his personality. His passion for people and a desire to help develop quality local infrastructure are winning qualities for any Public Works Director.

PROFILE: FRED SCHOTT, SE

Passion.  Smarts.  And more memory than a terabyte hard drive. These are just a few of the qualities that come to mind when thinking of Fred Schott.  Fred is more than a local structural engineer with a reputation for doing things with military-like precision, he is an institution. What is more, Fred certainly isn’t afraid to express his views on life and the engineering industry as a whole.

Want to learn from a legend?  Talk to Fred. With a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master’s in Structural Engineering from Cal Berkley, Fred’s educational background speaks to his extensive knowledge and passion for continual learning. In fact, Fred was a structural engineering instructor at Cal Poly before the college even offered a Civil Engineering program. As an instructor and industry leader for more than 50 years, Fred takes a lot of pride in the successes of his former students and employees.  His eyes twinkled as he relayed a story about a convention in San Diego. While there, he was pleased to see that  five of the seven speakers were former students of his.

When Fred stopped full-time teaching at Cal Poly to open an office in San Luis Obispo in 1966, he was the only structural engineer between Monterey and Santa Barbara.  His time teaching gave him a passion for young professionals, and a respect for seasoned peers which continues to this day.

For those just starting out in the profession, Fred asserts that it is critical to understand the importance of engineers in the world and the work that we do.  He used the example of a doctor and an engineer talking.  The doctor says:  If I screw up, I may lose a life.  The engineer says: If I screw up, I may lose thousands of lives.

On the other side, for those 20 years into the profession, Fred recommends finding a portion of the engineering field that is interesting, but needs further development. Once that area is defined, Fred suggests that you try to become an expert in the subject. Fred’s suggestion? Find out more about base isolation and dampers. He sees this as an area of structural engineering that will become more and more important in time. His professional experience speaks to this expertise of foresight.

Over the years, Fred has helped develop the Central Coast into what you see today.  You name it, he’s done it: the Santa Maria Airport Terminal Building, Kon Tiki Inn, seawalls, Airforce antenna structures for VAFB, housing developments in Santa Maria, movable rocket launch facilities at SLC-8, even assisting with the original construction of SLC-6 at VAFB.  When discussing these projects, it doesn’t take long to realize the vastness of Fred’s capacity to remember details.  In fact, he described in fantastic detail the antenna structures and the piles that were 3 foot diameter by 25 feet deep with the 2 foot thick by 60 foot diameter pad for the equipment. And if that’s not enough, ask him about the 30 foot square doors that hung 100 feet up on the face of the movable tower where the door hinge was an 18-inch diameter pipe with an actuator torque capacity of ½ million inch pounds. Phew!

This passion for detail and the profession drives Fred to rise to the challenge of doing the best he can every day. One concern that he has is that people get into engineering not because of a love of engineering, but for a paycheck. He believes that to be a good engineer, you have to want to stay up to date on codes that change every three years, and that you have to understand the theory behind analyzing and designing a structure – and not simply have the ability to plug numbers into a computer program.  You have to have a passion for learning.