Minority Contractor of the Year

GESTRA grows under Alam’s leadership

GESTRA Engineering Inc. Milwaukee GESTRA’s leadership team includes (left to right) Masud Alam, president; John W. Davies, manager of construction material testing; Doug Bath, Milwaukee branch manager; Dean Carlson, manager of drilling services; Marchella Martin, bookkeeper/receptionist; and Mark Skiba, project manager.

Masud Alam decided he wanted to be an engineer when he was a high school student in Bangladesh.

He studied engineering there and then moved to the United States to earn his master’s degree and doctorate. In 1993, he moved to Malaysia, where he worked for several years before coming back to the United States with his family.

He eventually took a position with Kenosha Testing and Engineering and in 2000 was put in charge of GESTRA, the company’s new design branch. When Kenosha Testing was purchased in 2003, Alam left and took GESTRA with him.

The firm has since been recognized twice in the past two years as one of the top 50 growing firms in the Milwaukee area, and now it’s moving to a larger facility in Milwaukee.

Alam’s background and focus on engineering has served his company well, earning it a reputation for quality and service that keeps it working on some of the largest projects in the area, including We Energies’ Oak Creek Power Plant and the Marquette Interchange. And it’s that dedication to en-gineering that put GESTRA in position to win the Minority Contractor of the Year Award from The Daily Reporter and Wisconsin Builder.

Bruce W. Ramme, manager of land quality in We Energies’ Environmental Business Unit, said GESTRA has a way of setting itself apart.

“They have a willingness to go into some of the more unusual tests that not everyone does,” he said.

Ramme said GESTRA often works with We Energies on research projects, including testing aggregates made from coal-combustion products and looking at ways to convert gaseous carbon dioxide into a carbonate mineral.

“They’re willing to go above and beyond in the work they do,” he said.

Once, GESTRA set up a stabilized, soil erosion test in its lab, Ramme said, rigging a small site that recycled the water from the site to see what the effect would be on a much larger area.

“That took some creativity,” he said. “We submitted a paper for publication on it. That’s something you don’t want to do on a 200-acre site without some lab experience.”

Ramme said We Energies also turns to GESTRA when it needs more routine work, like soil borings or to characterize sites before development.

“You get a good impression when people are responsive,” he said. “You get the personal attention as opposed to getting lost in the large, multilayered companies.”

And, he said, GESTRA has a reputation for quality and accuracy.

“Having it done right is essential,” he said. “If you’re looking to put a foundation on, [the testing] has to be done right because you’re relying on that data for structures, whether it’s towers, bridges or buildings.

“They really are life-safety type of services.”

Christopher Raykowski, principal engineer for The Sigma Group in Milwaukee, said his company has had the same kind of experience with GESTRA. Sigma has worked with GESTRA since 2000.

“They’ve been very good, very responsive, not only in putting quotes together, but also addressing tight time lines,” he said. “A lot of our clients wait to the last minute.”

Over the years, he said, his company grew with GESTRA.

“Our folks were very satisfied with them and Masud,” Raykowski said. “He became one of our go-to subcontractors. Masud is very good at what he does.”

By Janine Anderson