Steven was attracted to geotechnical engineering by what he describes as “the beauty of the fact of uncertainty.” Although what he does at GeoEngineers defies simple description, Steven takes a stab at it: “I provide recommendations to our clients about how much movement a waterfront structure or embedded structure is likely to have after earthquake.”

More specifically, Steven’s work involves deformation-based assessment of embankments, wharf structures, pipelines and other embedded structures with potential seismic hazards. In addition to his specialized geotechnical and seismic expertise, Steven has particular experience in numerical modeling for seismic-retrofit geotechnical projects with FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) software. His work also includes geotechnical exploration, geotechnical instrumentation, construction monitoring, seismic-hazards mitigation and project management.

Steven finds satisfaction in serving clients with the most up-to-date techniques and, as the GeoEngineers motto says, working hard to ‘find a better way.’ He values GeoEngineers’ variety of clients, the skills he develops from his daily work, the nice people surrounding him and the company’s supportive management.

When the weekends roll around, Steven enjoys playing in and on the water. He says with a smile, “I like anything wet, such as swimming, stand-up paddling and boating. I am thinking that might be part of the reason I love the Seattle area!”