Skanska Stacy and Witbeck (SSW) has hired a few new engineers onto the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project (Project). In the coming newsletters, we will be introducing them and welcoming them to the Project. First up is Office and Field Engineer Michael Maksimos.
Michael manages day-to-day field tasks and helps all crews to do their job safely and efficiently. Safety is a top priority for SSW and Michael helps implement those safety standards. He supports on-boarding of new subcontractors to teach them about Project-specific requirements and introduce the overall SSW safety culture.
Michael officially joined SSW in January of this year and has been impressed with the collaboration among all of the various team members. He is looking forward to the upcoming completion of the final Y-Bent on the Project and is excited for the highlight of the bridge, the Arch Ribs, to take shape soon.
Michael has been interested in construction since he was a kid growing up in Egypt, watching an apartment building being constructed near his house. He was amazed by the different types of work and constantly wanted to know how it was all done. The curious young Michael would even approach construction managers to ask questions and walk around the building sites. It wasn't long before Michael earned his Civil Engineering degree, then received a scholarship to attend graduate school at the University of Texas.
Since graduation, Michael's focus has been in Construction Engineering and Project Management on residential, commercial, industrial and heavy civil projects. This included an interstate highway widening project in Houston and widening a bridge near Amarillo, Texas; both provided worthwhile experience for his work on the Project now.
Finally, we asked Michael if he had any advice for someone considering engineering as a career. Michael said, "If you like to build, like to be challenged and stretched in your thinking and knowledge, you should go for Engineering. You will have fun with your career."
We can tell that Michael certainly is.
