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WBK Engineering Expands Expertise in Michigan

The Grand Reopening of New Office Significantly Enhances Firm’s Midwest Footprint. 

WBK Engineering, the Midwest’s premier civil engineering, planning and environmental resources consulting firm, is proud to announce the expansion of its office in Battle Creek, MI. The company will host a grand reopening and open house on June 16th. The WBK office is located at 68 East Michigan Avenue with the open house event running from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT. The event is complementary and open to the public.

WBK is owned by Mno-Bmadsen, the non-gaming investment arm of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, whose executives and elders will join in the celebration. Professionals from WBK, as well as those from sister companies, Seven Generations Architecture + Engineering (7GAE), and The Steelhead Engineering Co., will attend, as well as leaders from the municipal and business communities.

The new WBK office has grown to include the second floor as well as a redesign of its existing space on the first floor. The doubling in size of the office space will allow WBK to better serve existing clients and new clients throughout the Midwest, with a focus on Michigan and Indiana. Justian Crane, PE, who has been with WBK for six years, will continue to lead the new office.

“Justian Crane deserves recognition for his hard work in making the office start up and expansion successful,” says President Greg Chismark. “I cannot think of a more thoughtful, accurate, and hard-working engineer.”

WBK’s expertise includes extensive experience with water resources, municipal, site development and transportation work for state and local governments. The firm, which is part of Mno-Bmadsen’s Bodwé Professional Services Group, works with clients to develop and implement shared vision through service and stewardship, bringing a high degree of expertise and sustainable infrastructure solutions to municipal, public, private, federal, and tribal projects.

“We’re excited to enhance our capabilities and continue to work closely with our clients throughout the Midwest and the nation,” says Crane. “We’ve been fortunate to grow deep and meaningful partnerships with municipalities in Illinois and this expansion allows us to take this collaborative approach to benefit new cities in the Midwest to improve the communities in which we live.”

With 7GAE and Steelhead just 25 miles away in Kalamazoo, the proximity of the expanded WBK Engineering office strengthens cohesion under the Bodwé Professional Services Group. This allows for true collaboration on a variety of projects including tribal and federal initiatives.

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WBK Welcomes Jeff Guerrero to its Water Resources Practice

Jeff Guerrero WBK Engineering

WBK Welcomes Jeff Guerrero to its Water Resources Practice Group

Jeff Guerrero WBK Engineering

WBK Engineering is excited to announce the hiring of a new Project Manager joining our Water Resources Practice. We are pleased to welcome Jeff Guerrero as the latest member of the WBK team in our St. Charles office.

Jeff is a Water Resources Project Manager at WBK Engineering. His experience includes more than 13 years in the civil engineering field, much of that time focused on stream restoration, bank stabilization, and stormwater management work. Some project highlights include: design of bendway weirs to alleviate erosion of 20-foot high banks along a prized trout stream in Erie, PA; dam removals/modifications in southeast Michigan to allow boat and fish passage; stream realignment designs to protect critical infrastructure from being undermined; armored and soft revetment designs along Lake Ontario to prevent further loss of bluffs; and design of erosion protection and habitat features for multiple Niagara River projects. Jeff also designs stormwater infrastructure improvements, often towards the goal of providing infiltration via bioretention, permeable pavers, or other green infrastructure approaches.

Jeff lives in Schaumburg, IL, with his wife Kate and their daughters Gianna (8) and Carmen (6). When he is not working or spending time with family, you might find Jeff woodworking in his garage workshop — he enjoys making furniture and gifts for people.

 

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WBK welcomes Adam Wuellner to its Transportation Practice Group.

WBK welcomes Adam Wuellner to its Transportation Practice Group

WBK Engineering is excited to announce the hiring of a new CAD Manager joining our Transportation Practice Group. We are pleased to welcome Adam Wuellner as the latest member of the WBK Team in our St. Charles office.

Adam Wuellner has 23 years of experience as a technician, designer, and CAD manager. He has worked extensively on transportation and land surveying projects, in all phases, for the State of Illinois, the Illinois Tollway, county and municipal clients in northeastern Illinois. Through his experience, Adam has modelled and designed endless miles of highways, local roads, bridges, retaining walls, bike paths, and sidewalks. Adam has also trained dozens of engineers to use GEOPAK and OpenRoads civil design tools. He is a seasoned ProjectWise Administrator and likes to write code to automate and speed up tedious and repetitive tasks, using VBA and Powershell. Adam is also skilled in GIS, illustration and publishing, and video editing. He is an FAA-certified small UAS (drone) pilot, with experience in reality capture and virtual surveying. Adam joins WBK after a successful career with other transportation firms in Northeast Illinois. He is an enthusiastic and continual learner.


On a personal note, Adam grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago and has lived in the Chicago area for all but two years of his life. He currently resides in Lombard with his wife and three young children. He enjoys watching the birds that come to their feeder and sharing his favorite music and movies with his kids.

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WBK Engineering is excited to announce the hiring of a new Design Engineer joining our Transportation Practice.

WBK Engineering is excited to announce the hiring of a new Design Engineer joining our Transportation Practice.

WBK Engineering is excited to announce the hiring of a new Design Engineer joining our Transportation Practice. 

We are pleased to welcome Supraja Sundaresan, as the latest member of the WBK team in our St. Charles office.  

Click Here To Download PDF File of Announcement

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On Saturday October 17, WBK volunteers assisted the Elmhurst Park District

On Saturday October 17, WBK volunteers assisted the Elmhurst Park District

On Saturday October 17, WBK volunteers assisted the Elmhurst Park District with a clean up on the Prairie Path in Elmhurst. 

Our staff braved the cold weather and work diligently removing the woody and invasive plants considered detrimental to the prairie restoration of this community asset.

The Illinois Prairie Path was the first successful “rail-to-trail” conversion in the United States in the mid-1960s. The trail is named for its rare segments of original, thousand-year-old prairies, one of which – the Great Western Prairie – is in Elmhurst. With loppers and saws in hand, we created bundles of brush and afterwards enjoyed a socially distant lunch hosted by a gracious WBK volunteer. 

We appreciate this opportunity to give back to the communities in which we work and live.

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WBK was recently selected by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA)

WBK was recently selected by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA)

WBK was recently selected by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) for a Systemwide, Design Upon Request (DUR) on its last Professional Services Bulletin (PSB) 20-1.  This is WBK’s first contract with ISTHA as a Prime.  This project has a 28.0% D/M/WBE participation goal and 3.0% VOS/SDVOSBE participation goal.  WBK is required to provide Phase II engineering services for work tasks that may include preparation of contract plans and engineering studies and other technical services as directed by the Tollway. Typical tasks will include projects that are required for the Tollway system, and may include, but not be limited to: Structural preservation, Ramp rehabilitation, Sign and wall repairs, Intermittent pavement repair, On call and as- needed work related on the Tollway system.  Contract value is $2.5 million.

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Kenneth Cortopassi joined WBK’s transportation team.

Kenneth Cortopassi joined WBK’s transportation team.

Kenneth Cortopassi joined WBK’s transportation team. He has extensive experience gained over the years as a transportation and municipal consulting engineer and has been a team leader in the design and oversight of both locally and federally funded Phase 1 (Project Development) and Phase 2 (Design) projects. His Phase 3 (Construction Inspection) experience has provided insight to creating enhanced Phase 2 designs.

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Staff enjoying local scenery near the project site.

Staff enjoying local scenery near the project site.

WBK staff is working this week in the Southwest completing civil site assessments in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. We will develop a matrix to list site deficiencies and provide cost estimates for remediation, infrastructure replacement and recommendations for new site improvements as may be needed. This work will allow our client to make informed decisions and to prioritize projects going forward. Soon we will be heading to South Dakota to complete this round of our assignment. This photograph captures early evening downtime with staff enjoying local scenery near the project site.

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WBK Welcomes Yemi Oyewole P.E.

WBK Welcomes Yemi Oyewole P.E.

WBK Engineering is excited to announce the hiring of a new Transportation Practice Manager. We are pleased to welcome Yemi Oyewole P.E., as the latest member of the WBK team in our St. Charles office.

Yemi brings with him more than 30 years of experience in civil design and project management, spending 17 of those years at IDOT-District One in various roles, completing numerous typical and complex projects as a Project Studies Specialist. Yemi has accumulated experience in all phases of transportation engineering including preliminary and conceptual engineering, phase II plan preparation and construction management.

Specifically, Yemi has contributed to numerous geometric studies, safety studies including crash analyses, capacity analyses including intersection design studies, categorical exclusion reports, cost estimating, public involvement, and all other related work necessary to complete phase I preliminary engineering and environmental studies for intersections, highway segments, bridges and bicycle/pedestrian facilities. He has extensive experience working with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA), Counties and Municipalities.

In his spare time, Yemi enjoys fine dining, travel, cycling, and watching professional football and basketball. His wealth of knowledge and experience in transportation engineering will be a tremendous asset to the WBK team and focus to our clients’ priorities.

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WBK Welcomes Joanne Zuo

WBK Welcomes Joanne Zuo

Joanne brings more than 20 years of structural engineering and design expertise, most recently leading the design of the I-80/I-35 Bridge over the Des Moines River for Parsons Corporation and a team of nine others.

Joanne’s academic background includes study at Tong-Ji University (Shanghai, China) with a degree in Structural Engineering. She followed by earning her PhD from Illinois Institute of Technology.

Much of Joanne’s career has been focused in the transportation field in the design of bridges throughout the country. Joanne has also accumulated significant experience working with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) on numerous projects.

In her spare time, Joanne enjoys to travel. Her extensive structural design background, academic proficiency, and breadth of experience will make Joanne an invaluable asset and resource to her peers at WBK and to the many clients we serve.