Kevin C. Wikar,
Project Manager
Maryland Environmental Service
Even before I graduated
from URI with a master's degree in ocean engineering, my career
was off to a great start. During the summer of 1990, I took a position
as a quality control inspector on the new Jamestown-Verrazzano Bridge.
What I thought would be a good and fun summer job with some practical
experience in my major field of marine geomechanics, changed the
course of my life for a time. At the end of the summer, the contractor,
Atkinson Construction, offered me a full-time position in the field
engineering department. I was a bit burned out with hitting the
books, so I figured I'd give it a try. The company had a tuition
allowance program that enabled me to continue my master's studies
on a part-time basis. While working on the bridge, I was responsible
for inspecting various aspects of the structure such as concrete
placements, bridge span post-tensioning, and final paving. My life
was a bit hectic as I attended night classes, but I made it through
and left Atkinson to complete my thesis work soon after the bridge
opened in October 1992. By June 1993, I had finished my degree requirements
and was recruited to the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico for Fugro-McClelland
Marine Geosciences. This firm had a history of hiring Dr. Armand
Silva's graduates, and he said an adventurous person like myself
would fit right in.
It was an adventure, all right! Within
one week of arriving in Houston, I was out on my first oil rig in
the Gulf. A week later, I was in Mexico on a five-week cruise to
sample the seafloor for foundation stability for new platforms.
This position took me to at least 10 countries in two years including
the former Soviet Union and West Africa. I was a project engineer
responsible for collection and analysis of sediment properties for
the design of offshore structures, pipelines, and rigs. There was
plenty of excitement in this travel and work, but living out of
a suitcase was starting to grow old, so I transferred to Fugro's
Special Projects Division in Ventura, California.
At Fugro West, I was involved in the
port and harbor development group's work in Los Angeles, Long Beach,
and San Francisco. I worked with port planners and designers to
analyze the geotechnical constraints of berth and pier construction,
harbor dredging, and landfilling for waterfront expansion. In 1997,
I returned to the East Coast to the Chesapeake Bay. I am now employed
with Maryland Environmental Service in Annapolis, Maryland, where
I am a project manager for environmental dredging in the Port of
Baltimore and Chesapeake Bay approach channels. This position incorporates
many of the skills I have developed in all of my former jobs and
allows me to bring diverse and international experience to the projects
I work on. My primary responsibilities include dredge material placement
option planning and design for sound containment and disposal. I
interact with numerous consultants and port officials and environmental
regulators. The work is quite challenging, and I enjoy the mix of
design and management. My URI education has been a great benefit
since those very first cruises on the R/V Schock. And I thank Dr.
Silva for giving me that push out of New England to explore new
options.