Employee Spotlight – Tom Villar

Getting to Know Tom Villar, Principal Engineer – Construction

Q: How long have you been with the company?

A: I have worked for PE Services for 15 months.

Q: What does your job entail?

A: I am responsible for “Construction Quality” on the Met Transit Gold Line Project. My duties include keeping the project on schedule and under budget, looking for cost saving opportunities, mitigating unforeseen extra work & plan discrepancy issues, resolving field issues promptly at the field level, assisting the contractor with plan interpretation and scheduling inspection staff.

Q: In terms of successes, which accomplishments are you most proud of?

A: We are currently 15 months into a 2 ½ year project and are still on schedule and under budget while achieving high quality workmanship.

Q: What are the toughest challenges you’ve had at work?

A: Trying to mitigate differences between the Contractor and Owner (Met Transit) so mole hills don’t turn into mountains.

Q: How have you grown professionally while on our team?

A: Previously working from the Owner’s side, MnDOT, I am still learning the perspective from the 3^rd party consultant side.

Q: What’s a passion you have outside of work?

A: We have a lake cabin in NW Wisconsin that we enjoy every moment we can.