Contact Us

UCA
12999 E. Adam Aircraft Circle
Englewood CO 80112
USA
Phone: 303-948-4200
Toll Free: 800-763-3132
FAX: 303-933-6269
email: cs@smenet.org
UCA of SME Young Member Executive Committee


Sean McDonald, SMcDonald@jaydee.us

Sean McDonald is a Senior Field Engineer employed by Jay Dee Contractors, Inc. in underground construction and tunneling. He earned a Bachelors of Science in Mining Engineering from Colorado School of Mines with an interest in explosives. He has worked on a number of tunneling projects for Jay Dee, including their projects in Charleston, South Carolina and Detroit, Michigan. He has been involved in a variety of shaft and tunnel excavation methods; including caissons, rib and lag shafts and tunnels, hand mined tunnels, road header tunnels, and segmental lined tunnels. Sean’s current focus is in optimizing the methodologies and logistics of tunneling, both in underground and surface portions of projects. Outside of work, you can catch Sean at the golf course or out fishing.

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UCA of SME Young Member Executive Committee


Rajat Gangrade, rajatgangrade@mines.edu

Rajat is a Ph.D. candidate in Underground Construction and Tunneling at the Colorado School of Mines. His doctoral research focusses on quantifying, understanding, and communicating spatial uncertainty and risk for soft-ground tunneling applications. The objective of my research is to develop a smart risk assessment and decision-making tool capable of optimizing site-investigation & instrumentation-monitoring strategies, improve knowledge of the tunnel excavation environment, visualize models of relevant tunneling risks and quantify the implications of spatial variability and uncertainty in subsurface conditions. Prior to joining Ph.D. at Mines, he has worked as a geotechnical engineer with Jacobs on multiple DOT projects and with AECOM on Mumbai Metro Line 3. Rajat holds an M.S. degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Virginia Tech. in 2013 and a Bachelors's degree in Civil Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai.

UCA of SME Young Member Executive Committee


Jes Barron, PE, claude.barron@westpoint.edu

Jes Barron is a U.S. Army Engineer Officer and Instructor in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from West Point, a Master of Business Administration from Oklahoma State University, and a Master of Science in Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. He has served in the military for ten years with assignments ranging from expedient combat engineering to renovations of permanent facilities with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jes’ primary areas of professional interest are in engineering education and underground construction, and he is excited to bring both of these passions to the young professionals in the underground industry.

UCA of SME Young Member Executive Committee


Vojtech Ernst Gall vegall@gzconsultants.com

Vojtech Ernst Gall is a Senior Tunneling Engineer at Gall Zeidler Consultants. He has worked on national and international projects ranging from high-overburden, alpine rock tunnels, to low-overburden, waterway crossings in soft soils. Among others, Vojtech is currently working on the Alto Maipo Hydroelectric Project in Chile, the Hampton Roads Bridge Connector Project in Virginia, and the Gateway Program between New York and New Jersey. Vojtech received his doctorate from the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany for developing finite element techniques to model hybrid steel fiber and rebar reinforced tunneling segments. He holds a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering from Virginia Tech. In addition to his UCA involvement, Vojtech is a contributing member to the International Tunneling Association’s Working Group 22 “Information Modelling in Tunelling.”

UCA of SME Young Member Executive Committee


Aswathy (Ash) Sivaram, PE, SivaramA@bv.com

Aswathy (Ash) Sivaram is a licensed Professional Engineer at Black & Veatch with over 7 years of experience in heavy civil industry. She has been involved in various tunnel projects including but not limited to the Three Rivers Protection and Overflow Tunnel (3RPORT) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Dig-Indy tunnel project in Indianapolis, Market Street and West Ashley tunnel projects in Charleston, ORT (Ohio River Tunnel) in Louisville, and most recently the Central Water Integration Pipeline (CWIP) project in San Antonio, Texas. Ash holds a bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from National Institute of Technology in India, and a Masters in Geotechnical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA.