News

Celebrating Women in Construction 2022

Inspiring advice to women working in a male-dominated field, by Assistant Materials Testing Division Manager Angela Anderson.

I don’t come from a family in construction; however, I am the 2^nd generation of engineers and the first female engineer in my family.  My dad is an electrical and mechanical engineer, who would show me around the house how to do some of the house projects.  I don’t have any brothers, so my dad had no choice but to ask a female to help him around the house.  I enjoyed the math and sciences growing up that at Greenfield high school most of my classes were those.  My female physics teacher, senior year, took us on a field trip to UW-Milwaukee School of Engineering Department and they were making a concrete canoe.  I said I wanted to do that someday.  I applied to UWM and have a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering.  I didn’t just choose Civil Engineering to make a concrete canoe, but I also loved the outdoors.  That branch of engineering had the best of both worlds.  Needless to say, I never made a concrete canoe, but that didn’t stop me from finding a career I enjoy.

During my almost 18 years at Giles, I have worked in every office, except Texas and for every department (including the drilling department).

For all those young women in the world, don’t let anyone who says “Are you sure you really want to pursue that as a career!” stop you.  As it goes for anybody (male or female), do what you love and educate yourself.  You will make mistakes, but good things can come from those mistakes.  It is how you handle them is what makes the difference.

I love my job because everyday is a different day and at the end of the project I can drive around the city with family and friends and say I worked on that.  My 3-year-old cousin goes around telling people those are Angie’s Tunnels (he is referring to the Mitchell Interchange)

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Giles and all the people I have had the opportunity to work with and sincerely want to thank everyone for putting up with me for 35 years and look forward to many more.”
~ Kris

Kris is an integral part of the Giles team, participating in marketing/business development, with a persistent smile and a vibrant hello to both client and fellow employees. Giles flows smoothly due to Kris’ talents and efforts.

Congratulations to Don Goebel celebrating his 20th Anniversary!

We are pleased to celebrate Angie Anderson’s 15 year anniversary with Giles Engineering!

Angie is our Construction Materials Department Assistant Manager and an important part of our team! Congrats Angie!

August 25th 2018, Giles participated in the Graef Anhalt Schloemer Foundation Annual Golf Outing which was held at Kettle Hills Golf Course in Richfield, WI. Giles golfers included Steve Homar, Don Goebel, Dave Cornale and Dave Drow. Giles was also a Hold Sponsor and with a “bags” challenge in the Giles tent for the highest bags score at the end of the day won a prize. A great time was had by all!

More about Graef Anhalt Schloemer Foundation:
The Graef Anhalt Schloemer Foundation was established in 2,000 to support the advancement of Civil Engineering education in Wisconsin. For a number of years, the Foundation has provided scholarship opportunities to engineering students in Wisconsin. The Foundation provides $3,000 scholarships annually to engineering students at UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Platteville, Marquette University and new this year, the Milwaukee School of Engineering. In addition, the Foundation provides financial support for various events and activities that promote engineering such as student STEM fairs and concrete canoe competitions.

Jim Blair, Giles Driller in the Waukesha office, is celebrating his 15^th Anniversary with Giles Engineering!

Carol Frye – February 1 – 5 years
Keith Flowers – March 1 – 25 years
Dan Konet – April 14 – 10 years
Pat Reuteman – April 29 – 40 years
Jason Zupke – April 28 – 15 years
Chip Rens – June 4 – 25 years
Jim Strelitzer – June 14 – 25 years
John Maier – June 17 – 5 years
Rodolfo Lomas – July 29 – 5 years
Jim Blair – August 18 – 15 years
Cade Klock – September 9 – 5 years
Carlos Sarmiento – October 31 – 5 years
Mike Pisarik – December 1 – 15 years
Christine Gutierrez – December 29 – 10 years

Review from a former employee! Thank you to all our loyal team members.

4 stars for Job Security/Advancement, Management & Job cultures. A great job for those who can work independently. Respectful management as well. Working in the field inspecting soils at commercial projects.

Giles is hiring Engineers & Drilling Manager, Call us 800.782.0610 or email info@gilesengr.com

California Office
Edgar Gatus
Assistant Regional Manager
10 Year Anniversary with Giles:  July 1^st

Larry Ballard
Field Representative
10 Year Anniversary with Giles:  September 1^st

Waukesha Office
Dave Adrian
Geotechnical Lab Supervisor
15 Year Anniversary with Giles:  September 9^th

Georgia Office
Tom Trent
Geologist
20 Year Anniversary with Giles:  October 20^th

After 18 years at Giles Engineering, Steve Breidenbach, our Business Development Director retires.

Hope you’ll enjoy every minute of your retirement. Best wishes!

The State of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has awarded Ms. Kelly Hayden with a Tank System Site Assessor on July 28, 2016.  This license will allow Ms. Hayden to perform inspections for the removal of underground storage tank systems, involving collecting and analyzing appropriate soil samples and submitting supporting UST removal documentation to the state.  Ms. Hayden is an Environmental Scientist in the Giles Waukesha office.

Welcome Enrique Castillo, E.I.T.

Trevor Slazas, a Geologist recently graduated from Cal State Fullerton, was hired in the Giles Orange, CA office.

Giles’ Los Angeles office has recently hired Joseph Q. Huynh as a staff engineer. Huynh, EIT, is a CMT Tech and recent civil engineering graduate from California Polytechnical University (Cal-Poly) at Pomona.

The State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services has awarded Mr. David Zimmerman with an Asbestos Inspector License on May 6, 2016.  This license will allow Mr. Zimmerman to perform asbestos inspections, involving the bulk sampling and analysis of building materials, in multiple states throughout the U.S. Mr. Zimerman is an Environmental Scientist in the Giles Waukesha office.

Tim Taugher, P.G., Senior Hydrogeologist in our Waukesha, WI Environmental Department is celebrating his 25^th Anniversary with Giles.  Congratulations!

Mark Borucki, a Lecturer in the Geo-Sciences at UW-Milwaukee, is currently working at Giles assisting with Environmental Phase II site investigations and site closure documentation, while pursuing his Ph.D degree in Geosciences. Borucki is building on his Master of Science studies, which focused on the glacial stratigraphy exposed in the Lake Michigan bluffs and in the off-shore in southeastern Wisconsin. The emphasis of his current research is three-fold:

1. Critically describing the stratigraphy exposed in the unstable bluffs in a portion of southeastern Milwaukee County where exposures are common and constantly changing;
2. Discerning the sedimentology of the glacial, glaciofluvial, and glaciolacustrine deposits that comprise the bluffs; and
3. Assessing why the depositional sequence is preserved beneath southeastern Wisconsin, sometimes to over 50 m, whereas, older deposits are stripped from the bedrock surface by subsequent glacial advances in other parts of the State.

“I greatly appreciate the flexibility Giles is providing me by allowing me to assist in the Waukesha office while concurrently pursuing my doctorate studies.”

Drew Davis, Aaron Felhofer and Justin Fluegge-Elmer are new Co-ops to Giles Engineering, Inc. this summer, working in the capacity of Field Engineering Technicians. Both Drew and Aaron are engineering candidates at UW-Madison in Geological Engineering and Geoscience. Justin is a Biological Systems and Structural Engineering degree candidate at UW-Madison.

Katy Modl returned back to Giles after being a co-op for 2 years at Giles Engineering.  Katy is now an environmental scientist at Giles WI.

Alex Calaway has joined the team at Giles Engineering, Inc. as a Field Engineering Technician. Alex graduated in May 2016 from UW-Oshkosh with a BS in Soil Sciences.

Alex Javes is a Staff Professional I with the Giles Waukesha Geotechnical Department. Alex joined the Giles team in June, 2015 after graduating with a B.S. in both Geological Engineering, and Geology and Geophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Giles is pleased to announce that In January, 2016 Alex gained his State of Wisconsin Certified Soil Tester (CST) Certification. A CST performs site and soil characterization and specialized field testing for the design and construction of stormwater management systems. A CST identifies soil characteristics that relate to water movement and wastewater treatment. Giles’ CSTs evaluate soil samples from test pits or borings and complete Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) Soil Evaluation – Storm logs. The soil and site evaluations are used to develop geotechnical recommendations for the feasibility of stormwater, infiltration (including hydraulic application infiltration rate), as well as the feasibility of implementing different stormwater managed devices, such as infiltration basins, wet detention ponds, or bio-retention basins; for specific sites and projects.

Mark Statz (Waukesha office) February 1 – 20 Years

Dave Drow (Waukesha office) February 15 – 5 Years

Steve Homar (Waukesha office) March 14 – 20 Years

Darryl Keating (Maryland & Virginia offices) March 21 – 5 Years

Tim Taugher (Waukesha office) July 8 – 25 Years

Tom Kovich (California office) August 22 – 10 Years

The whole Giles family wishes to congratulate Don, who officially retired at the end of August, 2015 after over 30 years with Giles Engineering. We don’t have words enough to express our feelings of gratitude and appreciation for the hard work, knowledge, and talent that made him so incredibly good at what he did. The breadth and depth of his experience will be missed, as will his good humor and camaraderie. Don continues to show his commitment to teamwork, staying on to train his replacement and allow for a smooth transition. This shows not only his dedication for the laboratory, and more specifically to Giles, but moreover reveals the quality of his character. You will be missed.

Giles is pleased to announce that Dave Adrian has been promoted to Laboratory Supervisor at our Waukesha office after the retirement of previous Laboratory Manager, Don Mich. Dave has been with Giles since 2002 in the CMT Department. His project experience, attention to detail, and rapport with clients, as well as fellow employees, made him a natural choice for his new role. Taking over his new position in September 2015, he has proven his aptitude by attaining several technical certifications and performing ASTM and AASHTO test methods during AMRL’s on-site laboratory assessment as a part of our accreditation for soil testing.