In honor of RRC’s 10 year anniversary, the RRC co-founders reflect on their contributions to the innovative company we see today. This week, the spotlight shines on Bill Bong, Business Development Director in our Round Rock, TX office.  

Bill Bong is one of the founding members of RRC and is responsible for developing business leads for the company. Bill has been in the engineering field for over 17 years and involved in the wind industry for over 11 years. He started his career as a geotoechnical engineer with Standard Testing & Engineering in Oklahoma City, OK. Since co-founding RRC, Bill and others have positioned the firm as experts in the wind energy market. He serves the energy sector as a senior project/client manager and has managed numerous wind farm projects which include foundations, roadways, electrical substations, and transmission lines. Mr. Bong is considered an expert in project and client management. His expertise in the field and personalized approach has earned significant repeat business from a long list of wind energy clients. With a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Civil Engineering, Bill is an entrepreneur who has always been drawn to starting and running a business. For him, part of the inspiration for starting RRC came from the belief that hard work should be appreciated and rewarded. Starting a business was a way for Bill to create the systems that would allow employees to shine. Bill recalls the McAdoo Wind Farm as being particularly memorable because he acted as the Project Manager and Engineer responsible for the proposal, project negotiation, drilling management, field logging, laboratory testing, reporting, and invoice generating for the project. His hopes for the future of the company include being successful in the multi-discipline engineering field and to be well known in the industries RRC serves. In his spare time, Bill enjoys traveling with his family, swimming, and reading business magazines.

In honor of RRC’s 10 year anniversary, the RRC co-founders reflect on their contributions to the innovative company we see today. This week, the spotlight shines on Mohammed H. Abusalih, Renewable Energy Industry Lead in our Round Rock, TX office.  

As one of the founding members of RRC, Mohammed H. Abusalih has gained considerable engineering and project management experience for renewable energy projects across the United States. In addition, Mohammed has extensive engineering experience in transportation-related projects, public works, and commercial developments. His responsibilities include business development, client management, and overall project management. Mohammed’s proficiency in the field and tailored approach to each project has proved his commitment and dedication to ensuring high levels of execution and quality of deliverables, resulting in many satisfied and repeat renewable energy clients. Mr. Abusalih is considered an expert in geotechnical engineering in the wind industry with experience in several states across the country. Mohammed has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Utah State University and a M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado. He is a registered Professional Engineer in 15 states across the country. Having started his career with the Utah Department of Transportation, Mohammed has since accumulated 21 years of engineering experience, 11 of those years in the renewable energy industry. “When starting RRC, our primary goals were to be a trusted advisor and partner to our core clients and to differentiate ourselves from others in the markets we serve,” Mohammed recalls. “Hard work, dedication, and self-motivation of every RRC employee has positioned us as a leader in the industry.” Looking back on 10 years at RRC, Mohammed highlights the Shepherds Flat Wind Project in Oregon as a significant milestone. It is currently one of the largest wind projects in the country and the project provided learning opportunities with its unique challenges and geologic hazards. In his free time, Mohammed enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, especially in the western slopes of Colorado. He has participated in numerous amateur High Performance Driving Events (HPDE) with local automobile clubs at several racing tracks in Texas, including the world class Circuit of the Americas.

In honor of RRC’s 10 year anniversary, the RRC co-founders reflect on their contributions to the innovative company we see today. This week, the spotlight shines on J. Edward Vasquez, West Texas Group Manager in our Midland, TX office.   J. Edward Vasquez, PE manages the West Texas geotechnical and construction operations from the Midland, TX office. Edward is a licensed civil engineer in both Texas and New Mexico and has developed a reputation as a problem-solver with geotechnical and construction issues. Edward also serves as a Senior Project Manager for CMT projects and has four PMs/EITs under his supervision. The West Texas office works with a wide range of project types that include oil/gas compressor stations, pipelines, commercial developments, industrial facilities, municipal projects, and high-end residential. With a passion for safety in the workplace, Edward is RRC’s Safety Coordinator, chairs the Safety Committee, and wrote RRC’s Safety Manual. He manages RRC’s accounts with ISNetworld, BROWZ, and Avette (formerly PICs). In addition to safety, Edward is one of our corporate contract specialists and founded the internal company newsletter. Edward earned his B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He started his career with TETCO in 1994. Edward had the benefit of working with several different engineers throughout Texas with a very wide range of expertise. This varied background served Edward well. By 2003, Edward was a Special Projects Engineer with Kleinfelder and leading wind turbine efforts across the United States. It was this expertise that allowed him the experience and the confidence to make the jump to start RRC. “Helping to start RRC has allowed me to initiate my own ideas and business practices to the betterment of employees and clients.”  Edward enjoys working with junior staff to develop leaders and managers. He is an active member of ASCE, having served in all branch officer capacities. He currently serves on the Student Committee and is a Practicing Advisor for university students. Edward is active with the Geotechnical Business Association and is a Corresponding Member of the CoMET Business Council. Beyond professional activities, Edward is a “Big” through Big Brothers Big Sisters, a volunteer organization that matches adult volunteers with children in the community.

In honor of RRC’s 10 year anniversary, the RRC co-founders reflect on their contributions to the innovative company we see today. This week, the spotlight shines on Ben Krause, Structural Group Manager in our Maple Grove, MN office.  Ben Krause, PE is one of the founding members of RRC and is responsible for managing the structural engineering group. His engineering background has been primarily involved with the execution of industrial-scale wind turbine foundation designs. He is a registered PE in 9 states across the country and has experience with the design requirements for over 25 turbine manufacturers and approximately 115 different turbine models. Ben started his career at HDR in Golden Valley, MN (a suburb of Minneapolis) after graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil (Structural) Engineering from North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. He also has a Master of Science degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. Looking back on 10 years at RRC, Ben highlights the Alta wind projects in California as a significant milestone. The company was involved with phases 2 through 11 between 2010 and 2013. In total, RRC helped design the foundations for nearly 500 turbines on that project. The Alta Wind project still holds the title as largest wind project in the United States. When asked what inspired Ben to help the co-founders start RRC, he replied “What inspired me to help start RRC was the desire to help create something from our own vision and create our own standards of what an engineering consulting work environment could be. It was the opportunity to start with a blank slate and create whatever we determined was best for ourselves, our employees, and our clients. I’ve personally found it very intriguing to challenge some of the conventions of how a typical engineering firm operates. It was also an exciting opportunity to be on the forefront of renewable energy creation in the U.S. It’s been very fulfilling to feel like we’ve played a significant role in building momentum toward cleaner energy production for future generations to benefit.” When describing what sets RRC apart in the industry, he adds that “some of the services provided at RRC are more established than others and have come to be recognized as industry leaders, so what I hope to see in the future is that we become recognized as industry leaders for all of the services we currently provide. As long as we’re able to adapt and continuously raise the bar of what should be expected from the services we provide, then the only limits to what we can create are the limits we place on ourselves.” Ben is proud to say that he’s personally been involved in approximately one-third of all the wind power currently operating in the United States. “It’s been a very unique opportunity to be able to focus and specialize in an emerging industry for this long and I hope to continue leaving a mark in the wind industry long into the future.” In his free time, Ben tries to make a regular habit of seeing numerous movies a month in theaters in addition to regularly watching movies at home. He is an avid baseball fan and regularly attends Minnesota Twins games having been a season ticket holder for 10 years. When the Minnesota weather cooperates, he enjoys playing disc golf, which he started playing in college. Recently, Minnesota had the 3rd most number of disc golf courses in the country. Photography, particularly sports photography, has been a big part of his life for the last several years in his spare time. He feels fortunate to be one of the team photographers for the Minnesota Vikings since 2013. “I’ve had the opportunity to photograph every home game from the sidelines since 2013 on behalf of the team,” Ben adds. “It’s been an incredible experience especially as the Vikings transitioned between 3 stadiums in that time period culminating in the opening of the spectacular U.S. Bank Stadium this past season.”