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Thomas Pulse, PE, has been named president of Ayres Associates, replacing Patrick Quinn, PE, who announced his retirement from the architecture and engineering firm effective at the end of 2010. Mr. Pulse's appointment as president became effective May 10. Mr. Quinn, who had been company president since 2000, will continue as chairman of the board of directors until December 31.
"Tom will do a great job as president," Mr. Quinn said. "He has shown commitment to Ayres Associates, the profession, and the community that goes well beyond what is normally expected. Over his career he has taken on many challenges and has approached and handled each with great success."
Mr. Pulse, a registered professional engineer in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984 with a degree in civil and environmental engineering. He joined Ayres Associates in 1993 as part of the Engineering Services group in the Eau Claire office. His area of expertise is municipal engineering, specifically wastewater collection system design.
Mr. Pulse was promoted to Municipal Services group manager in 1999 and to Engineering Services vice president in 2001. He was selected as an executive vice president in January 2008.
Mr. Pulse has been active in personal and professional development throughout his career. He participated in the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce Leadership Eau Claire program and chaired the Chamber's Public Affairs Committee for three years until joining the board of directors in 2007. He also serves on the Friends of Sacred Heart Hospital board of directors, which oversees the major charitable giving program for the hospital. Mr. Pulse has been active at the state level for the American Council of Engineering Companies, the business voice of the engineering industry. He joined the ACEC board of directors in 2004, has served as secretary/treasurer, and will begin a one-year term as state ACEC president in July.
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Ayres Associates quickly put its bridge inspection experts in motion after the City of Atlanta called to seek this specialized service for 44 bridges lapped by eight days of continuous rainfall. The call came about 4 p.m. on Friday, September 25. Within a few minutes Ayres Associates was shuffling schedules across the country to make it all happen.
After a morning planning meeting with the City, inspections began about noon on Monday, September 28. By Thursday afternoon the 44 inspections were done. By Friday afternoon the City had the inspection reports in hand, complete with CADD drawings and hundreds of photos. Other inspectors performing similar work for Atlanta submitted hand-drawn sketches. |
Ayres Associates ranked 38th in the nation among road and highway design firms and 37th in the nation among bridge design firms in Roads & Bridges magazine’s annual Go-To List for Design Firms.
Roads & Bridges sent its 2009 voting ballots to more than 10,000 government officials and asked them which design firm they preferred to work with. Unlike other rankings, the Go-To List reflects project owner preference, not gross earnings. |
