David Sauls

David Sauls began his engineering career by landing a summer job in 1977 working for Dr. Louis J. Capozzoli, founder of the prominent Baton Rouge geotechnical engineering firm bearing his name. David continued working for Capozzoli as an undergraduate at Louisiana State University.

After seeing firsthand the construction challenges of soft Gulf Coast soils, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to earn his master’s degree in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Little did David know that after working with an international engineering firm in Houston for 10 years, he would return to Baton Rouge to rejoin the Capozzoli firm as a principal. The firm eventually merged with GeoEngineers in 2007.

At GeoEngineers, David provides designs for supporting infrastructure. He says, “We are fortunate in Louisiana to live in an area of great geotechnical challenges provided by a geology shaped by the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. We prepare geotechnical designs that must accommodate or avoid the unique soft soils of the region.”

Many of his pipeline projects incorporate innovative trenchless technology and construction techniques that guard the flood protection integrity of the area’s levee systems. David prizes his consultant role and working with staff experts to solve clients’ problems.

As chairman of GeoEngineers’ board of directors, David develops new business and helps steer the company’s future. The company emphasizes teamwork across multiple locations, and David reflects, “Although the majority of work the Baton Rouge group does is regional, it’s always rewarding when clients ask us to travel around the world to address their projects.”

David insists that his work overlaps with his leisure pursuits. “I enjoy inspecting the 18 excavations performed by the greens superintendent at my golf course,” he laughs.