Who We Are
- Message From The President
- Company Profile
- Qualifications
- Biographies
Mission Statement
"We will foster the success of our clients and staff by providing quality professional services in an ethical and collaborative environment. We will strive to deliver our services with professionalism, integrity, dedication and vision for the benefit of our clients, the public and our company."
~Bruce Shrake
President
Biographies
R. HAMILTON
Mr. Robert B. Hamilton, P.E., PTOE
Chairman of the Board/CEO
Bob Hamilton and Dave Gewalt founded the firm in 1981, and, since then, Mr. Hamilton has served as company President. With over 34 years of experience as a Civil and Traffic Engineer, Mr. Hamilton has a wide range of experience, especially in municipal, transportation, and site development projects. He has served as a consultant - municipal engineer for multiple communities, and has led the firm's institutional efforts, particularly serving hospitals and schools, as well as services to park districts. Under his leadership, the firm has grown steadily from an initial staff of two to eighty, and is poised to expand and grow further.
Mr. Hamilton holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the University of Detroit, a Masters of Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Masters of Business Administration from the Lake Forest School of Management. Bob is a registered Professional Engineer in four states and several years ago, earned the Institute of Transportation Engineers designation of Professional Traffic Operations Engineer.
Mr. Hamilton has also been very active in his community, having served in elected office for fourteen years and as a youth sports coach for 24 seasons. In his spare time (of which there is little), he is a commercial pilot with an instrument rating and flies regularly for Angel Flight Central as a volunteer medical mercy mission pilot.
A frequent speaker at a variety of seminars and conferences, Bob also regularly provides expert witness testimony at both local municipal hearings as well as in court.
B. SHRAKE
Mr. Bruce L. Shrake, P.E.
President
Bruce Shrake joined David Gewalt and Robert Hamilton of Gewalt Hamilton Associates in 1988. Prior to joining GHA, he was City Engineer and Acting Director of Municipal Development for the City of Des Plaines. Bruce started his career as a consultant with Morris Engineering.
At GHA Mr. Shrake is very involved with the design of roadways, traffic signals, Intersection Design Studies and Data collection. He has been responsible for the planning, design and construction of Wildwood, the first subdivision in McHenry County using permeable pavements to enhance water quality and manage stormwater. Other notable projects have included the 450 acre mixed use project for Gatling Community Development and the award winning Village of Libertyville Downtown Streetscape Project. He had also been responsible for the management of our IDOT Traffic Data Collection project for the past 4 years.
Mr. Shrake is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Illinois and a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer. He is a member of many industry specific societies such as the National and Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, the American Council of Engineering Companies and the National Association of Home Builders, Institute of Transportation Engineers, International Municipal Signal Association and the Illuminating Engineering Society.
M. SHRAKE
Mr. Michael T. Shrake, P.E.
Vice President
Mr. Shrake is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Illinois. He has more than 24 years of experience, specializing in municipal engineering, site development, school and park district design, commercial sites, subdivision design and review, and roadway pavement analysis. He has served as Senior Engineer, Construction Engineer, Project Manager, and as Village Engineer for many of the firm's clients.
His career with GHA began in January of 1986, after graduation from the University of Rhode Island with a Master of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering. He completed his undergraduate work at the same university and received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in May of 1984.
Mr. Shrake stays active in the industry as a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Public Works Association.
Mr. Shrake has been an associate partner with GHA since 1991 and serves as the regional office manager for our Gurnee office. Mr. Shrake continues to be an active member of his community as a board member for the Breakfast Exchange Club of Gurnee and as a volunteer coach for Upward Basketball and Gurnee Youth Baseball. Michael has been married for 20 years to his wife Jeanie. They have four children: Shelby, Summer, Savanah and Sawyer.
D. GEWALT
Mr. David Gewalt, P.E.,
Secretary and Treasurer
Dave Gewalt and Bob Hamilton founded the firm in 1981, and, since then, Mr. Gewalt has served as Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Gewalt has been practicing civil engineering for over 34 years with exphasis on municipal engineering, major utility design and construction and storm water management. Dave has a wide range of experience, especially in municipal, utility, and site development projects. He has served as a municipal engineer for multiple communities, and has led the firm's utility design and construction efforts.
Mr. Gewalt received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering and Applied Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1972, a Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1979 and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the lake Forest Graduate School of Management in 1984. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Illinois and Wisconsin.
Mr. Gewalt stays active in the industry as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Water Works Association, the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, the Water Pollution Control Federation and Tau Beta Pi.
S. BERECZ
Mr. Steven Berecz, P.E.,
Member of the Board
Mr. Berecz's career with GHA began after graduation from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana with a Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering. Mr. Berecz completed his undergraduate work and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a registered professional engineering in the State of Illinois. He is also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Public Works Association.
As a senior designer, project manager and Village Engineer, Mr. Berecz's professional focus has been on providing outstanding services on a wide variety of municipal engineering services. He has completed a wide variety of municipal water, wastewater and roadway projects including water transmission mains; interceptor sewers; water distribution mains; storm water relief sewers; storm water management; construction engineering; plan review and inspection of pubic improvements; roadway reconstruction, streetscape and resurfacing projects. In addition, Mr. Berecz has completed a variety of private site development projects for residential and commercial developers as well as developments for institutional owners such as Colleges, Park Districts and Hospitals.
W. GRAFT
Mr. Walter Graft, P.E.,
Senior Engineer
Mr. Graft graduated magna cum laude from Bradley University earning a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Illinois. He is also a member of the American Public Works Association, American Society of Civil Engineers and Illinois Society of Professional Engineers.
Since joining the firm in 1989, Mr. Graft has served as design engineer and project manager on commercial, Park District, School District, subdivision and roadway widening projects. In addition, Mr. Graft has served as lead design engineer and project manager for numerous large multiphase, multiyear school and hospital redevelopments. Mr. Graft's design capabilities focus on storm water management, site redevelopments, and water distribution networks and modeling. Most recently Mr. Graft has expanded his design services to include synthetic turf field and underdrain designs and track and field event designs.
D. DIXON
Mr. Don Dixon, P.E.,
Senior Engineer
Mr. Dixon earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Clemson in 1982; He proceeded to earn a Masters of Science Degree at the Memphis State University in Civil and Sanitary Engineering and also earned a Masters of Business Administration Degree from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
Mr. Dixon began his career in South Carolina focusing his skills on rural water system design and supply (deep wells), elevated water storage tank remediation and wastewater TP design. He then moved to Tennessee and developed his skills in residential subdivision design focusing on plat preparation, stormwater, and street design, grading and construction administration. He is OSHA trained for working on hazardous waste disposal facilities and oversaw the field construction of a hazardous waste transfer facility in Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Dixon then started the civil engineering department in a large Midwest architectural and engineering firm and grew the department to over 15 people focusing on large commercial site development projects.
Mr. Dixon joined Gewalt Hamilton Associates, Inc. in 2002 as a Civil Engineer with emphasis on commercial site development, stormwater management, and traffic engineering. Mr. Dixon is a registered Professional Engineer in Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, & Minnesota.
He stays active in the field as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, ACI Concrete Field Testing Technician - Grade 1, ACI Concrete Flatwork Technician and is OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120 Certified.
T. GORDON
Mr. Todd Gordon, P.E.,
Senior Engineer
Mr. Gordon earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from University of Wisconsin, Platteville in 1990. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from the Keller School of Management in 1999. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of Illinois. Mr. Gordon is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, as well as, a member of the American Public Works Association. Mr. Gordon served as the President of the Lake Branch of the Chicago Metropolitan Chapter of the American Public Works Association in 2005
Mr. Gordon has more than 18 years of experience in municipal engineering. He has served as Senior Engineer, Project Manager, and as Village Engineer for many of the firm's municipal clients. His overall experience includes various Village engineering functions such as design and construction of street and highway improvements, water and sanitary transmission mains and stormwater infrastructure improvements as well as plan review and inspection of public improvements by developers.
D MATTHEWS
Mr. Don Matthews, P.E.,
Senior Engineer
Mr. Matthews has spent his entire engineering career with GHA beginning as a student intern in 1986 and joining the firm full time in 1988. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Iowa State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
As a senior designer and project manager at GHA, Mr. Matthews' emphasis has been in site design and stormwater management. He is experienced in the planning, designing, permitting, and construction of institutional, residential, recreational, and municipal projects. His projects have varied among large hospital expansions, educational institutions, residential developments, municipal roadway programs, and golf course improvements. He also leads the stormwater engineering team at GHA and is in charge of preparation and review of hydrologic and hydraulic studies, drainage investigations, and location drainage studies.
Mr. Matthews has been involved in his community as well, serving as the Chairman of Northbrook's Stormwater Management Commission when he was a resident of that community, and currently as a commissioner on Highland Park's Environmental Commission. He has also been active as a youth sports coach for his three children. He is a member of various professional societies including the National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Illinois Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management. He is a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM), a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC), and a licensed professional engineer in the State of Illinois.
