Don is a Senior Application Engineer for Foundation Supportworks, Inc. (FSI). Don’s main role at FSI is to provide preliminary design assistance for FSI installing contractors, engineers, architects and other design professionals. Don specializes in large and challenging commercial and industrial applications involving helical piles, helical tiebacks, soil nail walls or hydraulically-driven push pier systems. Don has performed over 500 helical or push pier designs during his 6 years as a helical design professional. With his industry knowledge and research experience, Don also assists with product development and verification testing, and the development of technical documents and presentations.

Don had over fifteen years experience as an electrician and instrument technician prior to becoming a Civil Engineer. After graduating from the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR) in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Don worked as a consulting environmental and geotechnical engineer in Missouri and Wisconsin. Don returned to the University of Missouri-Rolla in 2001 as a full-time graduate student and teaching assistant working towards a PhD in Civil Engineering. Don began his career in the helical and push pier industry in 2005 by joining Hubbell Power Systems/Chance Civil Construction as a Senior Engineer. Don obtained his Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 2007 and is currently in the dissertation phase of the Ph.D. program at UMR. Don left Hubbell Power Systems to join FSI in December 2009.

Don is a licensed professional engineer in Missouri and Wisconsin and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Helical Foundations and Tiebacks Committee, and the DFI Seismic and Lateral Load Committee. Don has four technical papers published by DFI and ASCE regarding the design and installation of helical pile and helical soil nail systems.

Outside of work, Don enjoys fishing, bicycling and motorcycling. He currently resides in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.