Ricky McLain

Experience

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  DeWolfe Engineering Associates, Inc.

  May 2008 - Sept 2014

  Complete project management and site investigations for small residential projects to large commercial, industrial, and multi-sector projects. Oversight and peer review of other's work and technical guidance provided to contractors, homeowners, architects, and engineers. Structural design and detailing work for wood, timber, concrete, structural steel, light gauge steel, masonry, glass block, and composite materials structures. Failure investigation, design of seismic bracing for MEP components, construction inspections, review and analysis of existing structures, and fire damage investigation and analysis also performed. Show less

  • Senior Structural Engineer

    May 2014 - Sept 2014

  • Structural Project Engineer

    Dec 2012 - May 2014

  • Staff Engineer

    May 2008 - Dec 2012
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  Grateful Hands Brewing

  Sept 2012 - Dec 2013

  Owner & Brewer

  Owner/brewer/bottler of a nano brewery.

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  Cabot, VT Development Review Board (DRB)

  Apr 2014 - Sept 2019

  Chair

  Site plan review, land use and development review, conditional use permit application review

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  WoodWorks

  Sept 2014 - May 2024

  Growth and Innovation Program Manager, leading efforts related to new and emerging topics related to mass timber and wood-frame utilization. Providing one-on-one project specific support on tall mass timber, modular, off-site and prefabricated timber structures, creating technical documents, resources, presentations and guidelines to aid architects, structural engineers, contractors and developers on the topics of tall mass timber construction, mass timber builder's risk insurance, general property protection insurance, designing and detailing for modular and off-site wood-frame and mass timber components. Working with industry partners and stakeholders to identify current challenges and pain points with new and emerging topics related to wood use in construction, identifying future growth opportunities, and facilitating the creation of resources, technical information and technology transfer related to the future uses of mass timber and wood-frame in multi-family and commercial construction in the US. Show less Tall mass timber focused project support for WoodWorks Regional Directors and the A/E/C community. Expert project analysis, technical guidance, project support and code-compliance for mass timber projects that are permitted as part of the 17 ICC approved code changes for the 2021 IBC, creating 3 new construction types (IV-A, IV-B and IV-C) which allow mass timber buildings up to 18 stories. Internal training and creation of external resources related to tall wood design, detailing and code compliance topics. Creation of presentations and other educational materials for team-wide use on tall wood design as well as presenting on tall wood design topics at local, regional and national conferences and events. Show less Through the WoodWorks Help Desk and through other one-on-one interactions, providing technical guidance and assistance to engineers, architects, and other building industry professionals on code provisions and compliance, detailing best practices and considerations, design processes, efficiencies and other innovative solutions for a variety of topics ranging from light frame wood to mass timber, in low, mid, and high rise wood construction.. Responsible for speaker planning, technical content presented on, and other details associated with all WoodWorks hosted events. Preparing and presenting educational materials for live and online webinars and national as well as local conferences, seminars and workshops. Writing technical resource papers, case studies and monthly Ask an Expert articles for the WoodWorks website and other publications such as Structure Magazine, related to the code-complaint use of wood in multi-family and commercial construction. Moderating monthly webinars. Show less Consultation, education, and project assistance services related to the use of wood in multi-family, commercial and non-residential construction across the US. Technical guidance and assistance to engineers, architects, and other building industry professionals on code provisions and compliance, detailing best practices and considerations, design processes, innovative solutions for wood frame structures. Preparing and presenting educational materials for live and online webinars and national as well as local conferences, seminars and workshops. Assistance with code compliance, design considerations, detailing, economy, and other structural and architectural items associated with the use of structural wood framing, ranging from light frame wood to mass timber, in low, mid, and high rise wood construction. Show less

  • Growth and Innovation Program Manager

    May 2022 - May 2024

  • Senior Technical Director - Tall Mass Timber

    Mar 2019 - May 2022

  • Senior Technical Director - Project Resources and Solutions Division

    Mar 2018 - Mar 2019

  • Technical Director - Architectural and Engineering Solutions

    Sept 2014 - Mar 2018
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  Structural Engineers Association of Vermont

  Mar 2015 - Jan 2021

  Executive Director

  Executive Director and member of Board of Directors for the Structural Engineers Association of Vermont - SEAVT - an association of Professional Structural Engineers practicing in Vermont. Our organization seeks to advance the practice of our members and guests by sponsoring an affordable array of technical and business seminars. We also have several committees tasked with establishing state specific standards including; Snow Load, Special Inspections, Structural Engineering Emergency Response, Legislative issues pertaining to Engineers, and Code Adoption Show less

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  ASCE Structural Wind Engineering Committee

  Jul 2015 - Jan 2021

  Committee Member

  As part of ASCE's Wind Engineering Division, the Structural Wind Engineering Committee's purpose is to re-examine, improve and disseminate present knowldge, and to enlighten the engineering profession on the subject of wind forces on structures, and the response of structures to those wind forces; to attempt to clarify, coordinate and unify wind design provisions on national and local building codes. Information will be disseminated through ASCE Journal papers, technical conferences, and committee reports. Show less

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  Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) Blast Protection of Buildings Standards

  Feb 2018 - Jan 2021

  Committee Member

  Purpose: To develop standards for blast resistance design and construction of new and existing structures.

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  Mass Timber Advisors

  May 2024 - now

  Principal · Structural Engineer · Mass Timber Consultant

  Consulting on mass timber design, development and construction pain points, and structural engineering services for many types of projects. Our mass timber consulting services are tailored to the unique needs of mass timber.We also consult with many industry groups. - Manufacturers looking to enter or broaden their reach in the mass timber industry- Software and technology companies seeking mass timber-tailored packages- Start-ups who need to better understand the industryOur website is the best place to keep up to date, and contact us: https://www.masstimberadvisors.com/ Show less