Category: News

Haag and Salas O’Brien Announce Partnership

Building Damage

Strength in Unity: Haag & Salas O’Brien Announce Partnership

We are proud to share that Haag has merged with Salas O’Brien, an employee-owned engineering and technology firm at the forefront of sustainable design. We are joining an organization with more than 85 global offices and over 3,550 team members.

We are confident this merger will positively impact all our clients. Our capabilities and portfolio complement Salas O’Brien’s existing work while increasing our combined team’s ability to provide comprehensive, integrated, multi-discipline engineering and consulting services.

Here are some key facts:

  • The entire Haag leadership group and team are very enthusiastic about this partnership. You will continue to work with the same team of experts and experience the same decision-making, quality of work, and service delivery. As integration occurs, Haag’s service offerings and geographic coverage will expand.
  • The local Haag leadership team will remain intact with autonomy to best serve our clients. 
  • We share a vision, culture, and leadership style with Salas O’Brien. This was a key factor in our decision to merge with them. We also share a strong portfolio of complementary work.
  • We can now offer additional in-house expertise and design services like sustainability/green energy, industrial process, pharmaceutical and healthcare, data centers, food and beverage, fire suppression, lighting and acoustic design, but only when it makes sense for you, other team members, and the project.
  • We will have greater depth of support for many of our internal and overhead operations, thus improving our ability to serve you and your assignments. This merger also broadens our in-house expertise for key services like mechanical, electrical, and structural design.
  • Haag’s email and website will continue to be maintained and will transition to Salas O’Brien when practical.
  • Our name is now “Haag, a Salas O’Brien Company.” When Haag leadership believes the transition is complete and when the timing is right, we will adopt the Salas O’Brien name.

We’re very excited about this announcement and look forward to continuing our partnership with you. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. Learn more.

Enthusiastically,

Justin Kestner, PE, MS, MBA

Sr. Managing Principal

Haag, a Salas O’Brien Company

 

About Salas O’Brien

Salas O’Brien is an employee-owned engineering and technical services firm focused on advancing the human experience through the built environment. Our team is engineered for impact™, helping clients achieve critical goals, advancing our team members through growth and opportunity, and operating at the center of important global issues including sustainability and decarbonization. We are a top firm as ranked by Engineering News-Record and Consulting-Specifying Engineer, and we have appeared for over a decade on the Inc. 5000 list of North America’s fastest-growing private companies.

About Haag Global, Inc.:

Established in 1924, Haag Global is proud to celebrate 100 years of forensic innovation and consulting excellence. Haag’s comprehensive services include forensic engineering, forensic meteorology, forensic architecture, construction consulting, fire origin and cause, forensic research and testing, education courses and training, and GIS, BIM, and 3D scanning technology solutions. We specialize in serving the legal, insurance, construction, and manufacturing industries, plus private companies. With a century of expertise, Haag has become the national authority in examining, analyzing, and consulting on complex engineering and technical challenges following failure and damage to the built environment. As we move into the next century, Haag is poised to embrace new challenges, adapt to evolving industries, and provide cutting-edge innovations that will shape the future of forensic engineering and consulting.

For more information, please contact:

Polly Prado, Haag Director of Corporate Communications, 214.614.6500

Ice Ball Impact Testing Featured by CBS Texas

Haag’s Testing Laboratory was featured by a local CBS affiliate, demonstrating our ice ball impacting capabilities. Check out dramatic footage of testing using Haag’s patented IBL-7 ice ball launcher and IBL-9 for large ice balls & other projectiles.

 

Any opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Haag Technical Services, Haag Engineering Co., Haag Education, or parent company, Haag Global, Inc.

Congratulations Daniel Behrens, Promoted to Principal Engineer

Haag is very pleased to announce that Daniel Behrens, P.E., has been promoted to Principal Engineer! Based in Minneapolis, Dan Behrens has been a Haag Engineer for 13 years, with 24 years in the engineering field. He has been instrumental in serving Haag’s clients in Minneapolis, the Midwest, and beyond. Dan is a prolific course developer and a reliable ‘go-to’ engineer who is always willing to mentor new engineers and take on challenging assignments. Congratulations on this well-deserved promotion Dan!

Welcome Alex DeGroot, P.E., New Engineer in Charlotte!

Haag Welcomes Alex DeGroot, P.E., New Engineer in Charlotte!

“We are pleased to welcome Alex DeGroot to our Haag team,” said Justin Kestner, CEO. “Mr. DeGroot brings practical structural engineering expertise and will help serve Haag’s clients in North and South Carolina and beyond.”

Based out of Charlotte, Alex is a licensed professional engineer with seven year’s experience. He previously worked as a structural engineer designing wood, steel, masonry, CFS, FRP and reinforced concrete structures. He evaluated existing conditions, identified causes of problems, and provided engineered solutions. He then coordinated with clients, steel fabricators/erectors, and general contractors to identify potential issues and implement cost effective solutions, including developing solutions for atypical field issues with multiple constraints and limitations.

Mr. DeGroot earned a Master of Structural Engineering from Southern Illinois University and a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from Bradley University. He is a licensed P.E. in North Carolina. 

Notable projects include–

  • Goddard School, Chicago- coordinated with the architect from design to construction administration for the $5 million three-story private school
  • Illinois State Toll Highway Authority Contract I-18-4427, Chicago- designed performance-based, ground-mounted and structure-mounted precast concrete noise abatement walls for the $58 million contract
  • SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles– analyzed six construction hoists for the $5 billion stadium using atypical tie-off methods and custom connections.

Primary Areas of Consulting

  • Structural Evaluations
  • Commercial, industrial, and residential buildings 
  • Foundation and wall failures
  • Building code compliance
  • Construction hoists
  • Noise abatement walls
  • Building Envelope Evaluations
  • Moisture intrusion
  • General Civil Engineering
  • Drainage and flooding
  • Wind Engineering and Related Storm Effects
  • Structural damage
  • Roofing systems 
  • Quality of manufacture and application of roofing
  • Cause, nature, and extent of damage, particularly from hail and wind; and remaining service life

For more information or to contact Mr. DeGroot, email or call 800.527.0168.

Haag’s Heavy Equipment Team

Haag’s experts expertly handle heavy equipment files, including cranes and lifts. 

We are please to announce that Tony Bond, P.E., St. Louis Branch Manager and Principal Engineer, is Haag’s new Heavy Equipment Practice Area Leader. Tony has been with Haag since 2008 and has 27 years of experience with cranes, aerial lifts, conveyors, and heavy equipment. He is the former VP of Engineering at Elliott Equipment Company, has in-depth knowledge of the design and operation of cranes— including duties and responsibilities of crane operators—aerial lifts, and heavy equipment, and has performed over 300 forensic evaluations of the same.

Travis Wells, P.E., Esq., CFEI, is a Senior Engineer in Dallas, Texas, who also has handled various aspects of heavy equipment and crane files, such as tower cranes, hydraulic cranes, overhead cranes, gantry cranes, crane dolly’s, crane roadway accidents, aerial lifts, swing stages, building maintenance units, hydraulic lifts, earth moving equipment, vacuum trucks, pump trucks, and more. His background of accident reconstruction and his law degree give him a unique skillset with handling such files.

Many other Haag Engineers, including Justin Kestner, P.E., (CEO, Principal Engineer) and David Teasdale (VP of Engineering, Principal Engineer) have extensive experience with large loss files with crane involvement, such as collapses of bridges and parking garages.

Haag Global, Inc. | HaagGlobal.com