Staff Experience

Philip J. Meis, P.E., Principal Engineer

Philip J. Meis, P.E. is a registered professional engineer with a diverse background in civil design, surveying and mapping, geophysics, and data management, well suited for subsurface utility engineering.  During the 90’s he served as project manager and design engineer-of-record for several large interstate reconstruction projects in Montana.  For the past twelve years, however, he has focused his attention and interests on subsurface utility engineering.  In 2002 Mr. Meis co-founded UMS to specifically address and execute SUE as a rigorous geophysical and engineering discipline.  He has been providing SUE services on a national level since 1996 and is a member of the Transportation Research Board Utilities Committee (AFB70).  He has spoken regularly at numerous conferences including: National Highway Joint Usage and Utility Educational Conference; AASHTO Subcommittee for R/W and Utilities; state DOT conferences in CO, MT, UT, MN, WA; and the APWA National Congress.  Mr. Meis has published papers in Underground Focus Magazine advocating the use of SUE and new data acquisition and data management techniques.

Mr. Meis has served as Project Manager for hundreds of SUE projects, including the following:

·         I-494 Additional Lane, S.P. 2785-330 - Cities of Minnetonka, Plymouth, and Maple Grove (Mn/DOT, 2005-06)

·         I-15 / Custer Avenue Interchange – Helena IM 15-4(107)194, CN 5588 (UDOT, 2006-ongoing)

·         I-15, Corridor in Utah County (I-15, 400 South in Orem to Alpine Interchange) Project No. SP-15-6(52)241 (UDOT, 2004-05)

·         3500 South; Bangerter Highway to 2700 West, Phase II SP-0171(18)6, Job No. 7812515D, PIN No. 5608 (UDOT, 2006-ongoing)

·         SR-201 – 5600 West to Jordan River, SP-0201(5)13 (UDOT, 2003)

·         Project Manager, TXDOT San Antonio District SUE Term Contract (TXDOT, 2002-03)

Rod Kent, P.E., Senior Engineer

Rod Kent, P.E. is a registered professional engineer (NV, MT, WA) who has been worked for UMS since October, 2006.  Mr. Kent’s 13 years of experience includes SUE project engineering and utility coordination in Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota, Idaho and Washington. Mr. Kent has over eleven years of experience in the utility industry including five years as a design engineer with the Nevada Power Company in Las Vegas.  His background includes electric substation and transmission design for a major utility.  Mr. Kent has extensive knowledge of all types of utility systems and utility project issues. He has extensive knowledge of the national SUE standard “Standard Guideline for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data (CI/ASCE 38-02).“ Mr. Kent is involved in all UMS project ensuring the quality ad accuracy of the deliverables.  He also served as project engineer and was responsible for managing consultant contracts on numerous projects in southern Nevada.  Prior to that Mr. Kent spent five years in the Nevada Power Survey Department and was responsible for processing both RTK and post-processed survey data using Trimble Geomatics Office software. 

Thomas G. Swafford, Utility Coordination Manager

Tom Swafford joined UMS after spending 31 years with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).  He spent the last 4 years as the State Utilities Engineer responsible for consistent statewide  accommodation of Utilities within State R/W. He directed the in-house effort to completely rewrite and update the WSDOT Utilities Manual which includes guidance on the use of SUE and Utility Project Delivery. His effort required him to be knowledgeable of all aspects of utility design and construction. He also managed the statewide SUE ON-call consultant program which required him to have full working knowledge of the National ACSE Guide CI/ASCE 38-02 and assisted in developing Design Build RFPs as they relate to utility coordination. He was “the expert” with WSDOT in Utility Accommodation and Project Delivery issues where he was involved in all statewide complex project utilities issues. He spent considerable time with the Urban Corridor mega projects (Alaskan Way Viaduct and I-405 Corridor) in the Seattle metropolitan area assisting with resolving complex utility projects issues.  He also served as a region Utility engineer where he was directly responsible for Subsurface Utility Engineering and Project Utility Coordination for all WSDOT Projects in SW Washington.

Brandon Anderson, E.I., Project Engineer

Brandon Anderson is a graduate of Carroll College with a B.S. in civil engineering.  Mr. Anderson is fluent in MicroStation V8, GEOPAK, InRoads, ArcGIS, and Trimble Geomatics Office, and performs a large portion of the data processing and CADD development for SUE plans and submittals.  Mr. Anderson is also very familiar with Microsoft Access and Excel.  He has spent time in the field conducting land surveys and utility designating / locating operations, so has a comprehensive knowledge of the entire flow of data from research and acquisition to final submittal and coordination with designers.  Mr. Anderson also performs utility coordination services, and is adept in conflict identification, resolution negotiation, and agreement preparation. 

Cameron Greer, E.I., Staff Engineer

Cameron Greer is a graduate of MSU with a B.S. in construction engineering technology.  Mr. Greer is fluent in MicroStation V8, GEOPAK, and Trimble Geomatics Office, and performs a large portion of the data processing and CADD development for SUE plans and submittals.  He has spent time in the field conducting land surveys and utility designating / locating operations, so has a comprehensive knowledge of the entire flow of data from research and acquisition to final submittal and coordination with designers.  Mr. Greer performs utility coordination services, and is adept in conflict identification, resolution negotiation, and agreement preparation. 

Steve Wolowina, SUE Field Operations Manager

Steve Wolowina has ten years experience performing and managing a wide variety of subsurface utility engineering (SUE) field investigations in Utah, Montana, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, and Wyoming.  He has managed utility designating and locating for hundreds of field investigations.  Mr. Wolowina hails from the utility locating industry where he served as both manager and trainer of a large staff in the Salt Lake City region.  He is fully aware of the capabilities and limitations of the standard inductive electromagnetic detection equipment, as well as having first hand knowledge of the plethora of complex utility installations that exist in the field.  He presently manages UMS field operations in six states.

Thomas J. Tschida, Principal Surveyor

Thomas Tschida joined UMS in the summer of 2005, bringing with him 28 years of surveying and construction experience from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MN/Dot).  During his tenure with Mn/DOT, Mr. Tschida was directly involved with the surveying and mapping of various underground utilities located throughout the state country. In addition, he has been directly involved with numerous SUE projects while serving as the Midwest Operations Manager for UMS.