Staff

Andrew is a project engineer in the San Luis Obispo office. He has completed structural designs for a wide range of projects for clients all over California including the City and County of Los Angeles, Napa and Sonoma counties, and a variety of public- and private-sector clients on the Central Coast. His project experience encompasses single- and multi-family residential, wineries, and designs requiring probable maximum loss analysis and reporting.

Prior to his employment with Ashley & Vance, Andrew was employed as a framer with a construction company based in San Luis Obispo. This hands-on experience, coupled with a Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, enables him to provide efficient, cost-effective, and readily-buildable structural designs to meet both the architectural requirements and cost needs of our clients.

Austin became AVE’s second staff engineer working from our Bend, Oregon office. As a project engineer, Austin has worked on high-end residential houses, commercial buildings, retrofits, and remodels, as well as tenant improvement projects spanning from Southern California to Northern Washington. Austin enjoys bringing efficient structural design to complex architectural issues, especially in high-wind or seismic areas. Austin earned his Civil Engineering degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

Brett is a member of the Denver Office civil engineering team. He graduated from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering. Since then Brett has been practicing in the State of Colorado preparing construction plans and engineering reports for a variety of projects including, custom residences, multi-family, commercial buildings, urban mixed-use, business parks, assisted living facilities, and residential subdivisions.

Bryan Laub is an experienced BIM (Building Information Modeling) Manager that brings over 15yrs of experience in the engineering field. Bryan specializes in Structural engineering with having worked on many complex concrete high-rise structures, wood structures and steel structures during his career.

When not working, Bryan enjoys golfing, camping, and spending time with his family.

With a Structural Engineering license, a degree in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and construction management experience at Walt Disney Imagineering, Charles allows his construction background to drive his innovative designs. As a lead structural engineer for custom residential and commercial projects, Charles designs and oversees structural projects at Ashley & Vance Engineering.

Charles is a licensed structural engineer in not only California, but also in Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Texas, and Florida. His residential structural designs include projects spanning from Brentwood/Beverly Hills over to Malibu/Pacific Palisades up to Santa Barbara/Montecito throughout San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties. And he has led numerous commercial projects on the Central Coast such as SLO Brew Retrofit, Chinatown/Monterey St. Retail and Hotel Serra.

Chris is a project engineer for our structural engineering team in our Santa Barbara office. His experience includes marine structural and civil work, construction coordination, residential and commercial design. Chris received his Bachelor’s degree in Structural engineering from UC San Diego and his Master’s in Civil & Environmental Engineering from San Jose State University.

A Santa Barbara native, Dale worked for his father, a masonry contractor, before pursuing degree in Civil Engineering from San Diego State University.  He worked for the private firm of SB&O, Inc. in San Diego before returning home to work for the County of Santa Barbara Public Works Department. During his 16 years at the County, he worked as a project engineer for the Solid Waste Division and the Water Agency designing & managing various projects on the local landfills & reservoirs before serving as the Development Engineer for the Flood Control District.  While working at Flood Control, Dale served 10 years on the Subdivision Development Review Committee, supervised the Development Review Division, and gained his Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) Certification. Dale returned to the private sector, and worked the next 12 years at MAC Design Associates. While here, Dale gained his QSD/QSP Certification, and served as the Principal Engineer on various land development projects.

When not in the office, Dale enjoys traveling, photography, motorcycling, sailing, camping, snowboarding, mountian biking and volunteering his time at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission serving as a Mentor and as Marketing Photographer. 

Davis is part of the civil engineering team in the Bend office. He graduated from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering where his primary focus was hydraulics and water treatment systems. Along with his collegiate knowledge, Davis also has experience as an onsite project engineer and with hands on experience as a carpenter. He has worked on building custom homes, helping to manage a multi-million dollar concrete structure project and creating concepts and outlines for solving Bozeman’s 2050 water storage crisis.    

Drew is a structural project engineer in the Santa Barbara office. He joined the A&V team after graduating with his BS degree in Civil Engineering with a structural emphasis. He has experience with a variety of projects, ranging from multifamily and hotels to high end residential design. He enjoys challenging projects where attention to detail and coordination with the rest of the design team is paramount. Drew is a Santa Barbara County native and is excited to see and work on projects that positively impact the community where he was raised.

Originally from Monterey County, Emilio works as part of the civil engineering team in the Santa Barbara office. Since graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with his bachelors and masters in Civil Engineering, he has worked on a multitude of projects within Santa Barbara County. Emilio has a diverse background that includes public and private site design, commercial and residential development, and wet utility design. He enjoyed being part of the team that put together the final design plans and provided construction support for the Hotel Californian - an upscale hotel with a large parking structure, restaurants, and food services near the ocean on lower state street. Outside of work, Emilio likes to bake bread and swing dance.

Emily is part of the Civil Engineering team in the Bend office. She graduated from Cal Poly with a BS in BioResource and Agricultural Engineering. Before starting with Ashley & Vance Engineering, Emily worked for one of the USDA’s agencies, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). She worked for the NRCS in Bend, OR and Denver, CO, designing a variety of irrigation systems such as culverts with headgates and center pivots for private landowners. She has since moved into the civil industry and looks forward to learning from her peers. In her free time, Emily enjoys mountain biking in the forest and eating burritos.

Evan is a project engineer for our civil engineering team in our Bellingham office. His experience includes doing steel and concrete design for projects ranging from pipe supports, personnel access platforms and has designed stormwater systems within refineries. Evan earned his Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. He is also a member of Engineers without Borders and currently working on monitoring and evaluating a Urine Diversion Dehydration Toilet (UDDT) in Axim, Ghana.

Fernando is a structural project engineer in our San Luis Obispo office.He joined Ashley & Vance shortly after completing both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in Structural Engineering at Cal Poly.  Fernando takes pride in bringing close attention to detail and efficiency to any project he works on.  In his free time, you can find Fernando playing golf, playing classical/flamenco guitar, and exploring the craft of beer.

Ian joined us in this location on the structural design team just after receiving his M.S. in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. With a relentlessly analytical approach, Ian is often tasked with AVE’s most difficult and challenging projects. Over the years, Ian’s designs have incorporated wood, concrete, masonry, and steel framing systems as well as retrofits of unreinforced masonry—and, in some cases, all on the same project.

Ian has worked on a variety of projects including custom residential homes, seismic retrofits, and commercial structures. Ian enjoys the challenges posed by unique projects and skillfully works through them to reach practical and cost-effective solutions. This results-orientated approach has allowed him to work through some of the largest commercial projects in the San Luis Obispo downtown corridor including Garden Street Terraces and the retail portion of Chinatown.

Jackson began his career working in the oil and gas industry designing support steel structures and performing pipe stress analysis for high pressure oil field processes. Jackson’s passion for designing complex pressure piping projects in the oil and gas industry has translated excellently with our structural group at Ashley & Vance Engineering. He is currently working as a project engineer and is involved in design and project management for multiple challenging projects within the structural group. He is especially passionate about helping clients achieve beautiful buildings with cost-efficient design.

In addition to his design experience, Jackson has spent some time working in concrete construction and he took part in a large factory site redevelopment project in Indiana. Jackson is a graduate from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Civil Engineering. Jackson is very excited to be working with Ashley & Vance and strives to apply his previous experience and work ethic to the structural engineering projects we offer.

As a long time Santa Barbara local, Jason has been practicing civil engineering for over 20 years. He has worked on various high-profile projects with large multi-national civil engineering firms. For 10 years prior, he worked for Foster Wheeler Corporation in their Clinton, New Jersey office. He prepared civil and site improvement designs and plans for facilities serving the power, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Some of his past projects include grading and drainage design for international clients such as Amerada Hess, Shell Oil, and Merck Pharmaceuticals, both in the United States and overseas.

Jason is intimately familiar with the entitlement and permitting process for large and small projects on the Central Coast and Southern California. Recently he worked on high-profile projects in the education, hospitality and healthcare industries as well as on luxury residential developments. Through these projects, Jason has become very familiar with the expectations of several local agencies within Santa Barbara County. Jason is the principal civil engineer at our Santa Barbara office. 

Located in our Bend office, Jenilee is a licensed professional with over 10 years of experience as a civil engineering consultant in the Central Texas land development market. She designed, permitted and managed a multi-million-dollar, commercial, mixed-use, urban infill project in Austin, Texas featuring 350 multifamily units, 100,000 SF of Class A office space, 7,500 SF of retail and attached parking garage. In Bend, she was the civil lead for the 240-unit Stillwater Crossing Project and contributed to the cottage community Kôrazón. Jenilee brings to the team project management experience in complex commercial, mixed use, office, industrial and condominium projects from conception through close-out.

Outside of her passion for land entitlement, Jenilee enjoys backpacking, scuba diving and a good book.

Completing his Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly, Pomona, Jia is focusing his strengths as a structural project engineer located in the Pasadena office. He enjoys working in a team to provide cost effective and creative solutions for the client, while developing professional relationships. Jia sees challenges as opportunities to learn valuable knowledge and lengthen his abilities to explore solutions. He believes that hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. Aside from engineering, Jia enjoys hiking and physical activities.

Jim Lord brings 14 years of civil engineering design and project management experience to his role as principal engineer of the Bend, Oregon office. He has been living and working in central Oregon for over a decade and he has a deep understanding of the local standards, regulations, and business climate.

Jim designed and managed the approval and construction of many private development projects including the Simpson Pavilion ice rink project for the Bend Parks and Recreation District. He also has extensive experience working on public improvement projects. Jim was the lead designer and construction manager for the 3rd Street Underpass Stormwater Improvement Project in Bend, Oregon. This project retrofitted an existing 80-year railroad undercrossing that was prone to flooding with a collection and pumping system, conveyance piping, and various bio-swales. He also was a design engineer for the $1.8B San Diego Gas and Electric Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Line Project and was responsible for designing over 50 miles of access roads, maintenance pads, and pull-sites.

Jim is a proponent of sustainable design, low-impact development, and green building principals. He also owned and operated an organic farm for several years and has hands-on experience with agricultural and irrigation design.

John contributes a wealth of knowledge and experience in custom residential structural design to the AVE team. He has led many multifaceted jobs from design to construction and he exhibits critical attention-to-detail and problem-solving abilities while maintaining builder-friendly plans.

He has also served as the engineering lead on a spectrum of structural projects. Some of these include concrete tilt-up buildings, residences subject to coastal flooding, buildings requiring overpressure ‘blast’ design, structures requiring deepened foundations, beach access stairs, and commercial buildings.

Jordan is one of the original engineers at Ashley & Vance Engineering, and he is now the principal engineer of the Northern Nevada office. He has designed structural projects of all sizes including remodels, custom homes, commercial buildings, and healthcare facilities. Having spent significant time in the construction industry, he brings a sense of constructability to engineering and enjoys delivering projects that are buildable and cost effective, while ensuring quality client service through completion of every project.  

Born and raised in the Eastern Sierras, Jordan has a particular affinity for the mountains and enjoys the unique challenges that heavy snow and high earthquake loads bring to structural engineering. He has been the lead engineer on many high-end custom residential and commercial projects in Mammoth Lakes, June Lake, and Lake Tahoe in California, and Bend, Oregon as well.

Juan received his Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly SLO. Prior to working at Ashley and Vance, he gained experience preparing grading, drainage, and site utility plans for residential and commercial projects in Orange County. He continues his career working in our civil engineering team in our San Luis Obispo office.

Juan can often be found hiking the local trails, relaxing at the beach, or body boarding in the ocean.

Julie is a project engineer for the Structural Engineering Team in the Tahoe office. Julie received a Bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a focus in Structural Engineering. She has a knack for problem solving and noticing flaws and errors in design. She has a wide range of construction design experience with an Electrical Contractor and an MEP design firm in Las Vegas, as well as a wealth of knowledge of the Energy Code and Solar. She has been working on a variety of Residential, Commercial, and Hospital projects.

Katie is a project engineer in the Santa Barbara office with a BS in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  After spending two years in her native San Francisco Bay Area working on high end residential and large corporate campuses, Katie is happy to be back on the Central Coast and part of the Ashley and Vance team.  Katie’s optimistic attitude helps her tackle difficult engineering problems with creative cost effective solutions. When out of the office Katie enjoys the many activities Santa Barbara has to offer including beach volleyball, surfing, free diving, and sailing.    

Keiko graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering at Cal Poly SLO. Prior to joining Ashley and Vance Engineering’s Structural team, Keiko spent her summers as a Project Engineer Intern with Swinerton Builders, designing theatrical sets, and working as a barista. Through these experiences, she developed valuable communication skills. She is dedicated to providing excellent customer service and enjoys Ashley and Vance’s teamwork environment. One of Keiko’s favorite parts about living in SLO is how bike-friendly it is.

Lilli is located in the Denver office with the civil engineering team. She graduated from Colorado School of Mines with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering with a Minor in Humanitarian Engineering. Prior to joining Ashley and Vance Engineering, Lilli focused on gaining experience of her passion by working on water sanitation and new development in Honduras. She is looking forward to being able to apply her humanitarian knowledge to projects with the team. In her free time you can find Lilli in the mountains, tending her garden, or walking her dog, Indy. 

Originally from San Jose California, Logan moved out of state to Flagstaff Arizona where he went to school at Northern Arizona University. Here Logan received both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Civil Engineering as well as gaining some surveying experience before moving back to California. Logan was welcomed into our San Luis Obispo office as his next move back to California. As a member of the San Luis Obispo Office, Logan finds enjoyment in solving various engineering problems to further help out the community that he lives in.  Outside of the office, Logan likes to play a variety of video games, as well as playing sports, such as soccer and baseball.

Marc is apart of the Civil Engineering team in the Bend office. He graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering. Marc has hands on experience as a carpenter building custom homes, as well as experience inspecting infrastructure throughout Oregon with the Oregon Department of Transportation. Outside of work, Marc enjoys mountain biking, camping, and wakeboarding. 

Receiving his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly, Matt joins our San Luis Obispo office. He holds a background in structural and civil design and enjoys working on a variety of projects. With his formal training of a welder, he can understand the challenges that job sites can produce and offer contractor-friendly solutions. Matt enjoys being involved with the team to create projects come to life.

With a BS in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and prior field and design experience with sewer bypass and irrigation systems, Max serves effectively as a project engineer working on various civil projects in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles requiring grading, drainage, utility, and erosion control plans. Along with general civil design, Max has been concentrating on hydraulic systems and has experience using Civil3D and HydroCAD for hydraulic modeling.

Max has also worked on larger single-family residence projects that require the preparation of Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans and has conducted numerous onsite SWPPP inspections since working at Ashley & Vance. With field experience in environmental design, Max recognizes the impact of his projects on surrounding ecosystems and ensures that vegetation and wildlife will be protected during every construction project.

Mike graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Civil Engineering. Since then, the work he has done has taken him to both Haiti and New Zealand for extended periods of time following earthquakes in those locations. He helped educate haitian engineers on rapid structural damage assessment, which led to coordinating 600 engineers to assess over 400,000 buildings. In both Haiti and New Zealand, he performed numerous seismic assessments and repairs to damaged buildings. 

He has experience of a wide range of project types that includes Industrial tilt-ups, Healthcare, Commercial, Seismic Retrofit, and more. His ability to communicate and work with the design team and contractors help to provide a positive and cost effective product upon completion. With his years of wisdom and range of experiences, Mike brings much to the team in his own humble and subtly goofy way. Now based in the Sacramento office, he continues to daily enjoy projects in the greater Sacramento area and being a part of the AVE team/crew!

Nick is based out of our San Luis Obispo office. He specializes in the design of new structures, evaluation and rehabilitation of existing structures, and investigation of structural failures. His diverse experience as a structural engineer includes working with numerous types of structural materials and systems, which can range from traditional structural engineering methods to more innovative systems including base isolation and viscous dampers.

He was a member of the ASCE 7-16 sub-committee tasked with re-writing the Base Isolation and Energy Dissipation code. He applies his knowledge of performance based earthquake engineering in seismic rehabilitation of existing structures and design of new structures. Nick lived in Christchurch, New Zealand for approximately 3 years following the Canterbury Earthquakes, performing numerous seismic assessments and repairs to damaged buildings.

By completing numerous structural engineering projects throughout the US and New Zealand, he takes great pride in offering creative and cost-effective design solutions across multiple industries ranging from rocket launch complexes, industrial facilities, commercial buildings, and wastewater treatment facilities. In addition, Nick has five years of experience as a carpenter providing unique insight on constructability and practical issues related to structural behavior and design.

A graduate of Oregon State University and a native Oregonian, Nikki is a member of the Bend, Oregon office and has called Central Oregon home since 2003. With a background in marketing for the energy industry, Nikki gained experience working with engineering and technical teams to explain complex ideas to broad audiences through website content, blog articles, social media posts, and other channels. In her free time, Nikki enjoys hiking through the Cascades with her family and traveling with friends.

As an alumnus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the California Central Coast has been his region of focus throughout his career. Paul opened our Santa Barbara office in 2012, and remains one of the Principal Engineers overseeing the structural team in that location. He holds great rapport with clients with his positive attitude and energetic approach to all projects. He welcomes challenges and utilizes his extensive background in building construction, dabbling in a wide range of trades including welding, concrete, framing, and carpentry, in his work today. After using those skills and completing a father-son development project of two hillside residences in 2010, that comprehensive building experience now elicits his unique approach to structural solutions. Within the industry, Paul engages with the larger community by serving on the AIA Board of Directors for the Santa Barbara chapter since 2018. His role includes a seat as the Annual ArchitecTours Logistics Chair (since 2016) for the showcase of local accomplishments and contributions in design and engineering to the community at large.

Rian is a structural project engineer in the Santa Barbara office who brings a diverse range of talent to the AV team. He has six years of structural engineering experience in light frame wood construction for residential and multi-family projects, and is an expert on engineered wood products. Rian is an innovator and a collaborator and enjoys putting his skills to work for his clients. He earned his BS in Structural Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and is overjoyed to be back on the central coast.

Robert is a project engineer on our structural team in the San Luis Obispo office. He graduated from Cal Poly with a General Engineering degree but learned to love buildings while employed by a Livermore based contractor. Robert has worked on high end residential, remodels and commercial buildings before and during his time at AV. 

Rosa is a structural project engineer in our Oakland office. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona, where she focused her studies on structural design. After college, she worked in construction management for public works projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She then joined a structural engineering firm that specializes in forensic analysis and preparing repair protocol for damaged structures. With a passion for structural designs for new construction, Rosa welcomes the opportunity to resolve problems as they may arise. Outside of work, Rosa loves chasing her personal records in running/jogging, spending time with family and friends, and traveling. 

Located in the San Luis Obispo office, Ryan graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and has stayed in the area to take advantage of the good weather and scenery.  He is a hands on person with a knack for fitting things together and helping to solve practical problems. Over the years he has worked on projects from custom residential to mixed use to OSHPD. This variety of projects has given him a well-rounded skillset and the ability to come up with a solution for any problem.  When Ryan is not solving puzzling situations on paper, he is often seen on his bike on the roads of the San Luis Obispo are or on his mountain bike & dirt bike, shredding it in the hills.

Located in our Santa Barbara office, Sally represents Ashley & Vance when greeting clients on the phone and in person. With a background in the office administration and bookkeeping, she is apart of the admin team with the daily tasks of invoicing, collecting, document filing/organizing, business development, and staff support.

Sarah is a project engineer and aspiring land surveyor in our San Luis Obispo office. With over two year’s experience, she provides support for a wide variety of projects including property mapping, grading design, drafting and document preparation.  In 2016, she graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Dance and a minor in Business. Sarah is an active member of ASCE as the San Luis Obispo Branch Event Coordinator.

Outside of work, Sarah likes to backpack as much as she can, wherever she can. She also enjoys traveling, snowboarding, rocking out at concerts, and being the best plant mom she can be.

As a licensed structural engineer and principal of the Los Angeles office, Sean is responsible for overseeing the structural design of high-end residential, commercial, hotel, multi-use, and tenant improvement projects in the greater LA area. Sean stands out as a creative and versatile engineer with experience in concrete, steel, masonry, and wood construction for a wide variety of structural systems.

During his career, Sean has been involved as lead design engineer for several notable projects such as a 244-unit mixed-use development with two levels of subterranean parking in Marina del Rey, a 53 unit multi-family residential community in Palm Springs, a multi-story hotel addition with underground parking in Burbank and a major tenant improvement at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. He has a proven track record of delivering cost-effective and inventive designs that meet the goals of the clients, architects, contractors and other professionals. 

Shannon, principal engineer for the San Luis Obispo office civil department, brings 18 years of civil engineering and project management experience to Ashley & Vance Engineering. Shannon’s technical experience ranges from utility design, water and wastewater process design, site development, and stormwater management. Having lived on the Central Coast for 24+ years, Shannon has extensive experience in the winery, agricultural, and industrial industries, especially related to water and wastewater resource management. Shannon is well versed in both public and private civil engineering projects, with comprehensive understanding of permitting and working with local agencies including SLO, Monterey, and Santa Barbara Counties, as well as CA State and Regional Water Boards.

Located in our Bend, Oregon office location, Stacey excels in her role as ​part-time ​office manager for AVE. She keeps the office running smoothly with her reception, administrative, and financial skills. Stacey has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a background as a licensed tax consultant and an enrolled agent​.​​ Wearing many hats, she works for the Ashley & Vance Engineering Bend, Oregon office and also for a local accounting firm. ​Stacey has been a much-appreciated ​part of the Bend team since its inception​ in 2011​​.

Taylor Vaughn is a Structural Project Engineer at the San Luis Obispo office. He received his Bachelors of Structural Engineering from UC San Diego. Before completing his degree, he worked in the utility solar industry building some of the largest Solar power plants in the world, namely Topaz Solar Farm and McCoy Solar Project. Taylor enjoys applying his unique experience to complex structural engineering problems and watching projects grow from an idea to a real-world structure. In his free time, Taylor enjoys woodworking, golfing and tending to his 3-tiered wine barrel waterfall goldfish ponds.

Timothy recently graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno and now works in the Santa Barbara office. With an honors degree in Geological Engineering, he looks forward to bringing his passion for geotechnical projects and hydrology to the Civil team. During college, Timothy interned in a lab performing soil testing as well as in an engineering firm where he worked on geotechnical projects in mines and roads. He has also gained hands on experience in construction while framing buildings and remodels. After graduating, he spent a season wildland firefighting where he gained a larger appreciation for positive communication and teamwork and aims to bring these skills into the professional realm.

When he’s not inside, Timothy is outside... He loves shredding powder on skis, dirt on a mountain bike, and his hands on rocks while climbing. 

Tung is a structural engineer in our Reno office. As a long time Reno/Tahoe local, Tung obtained his MS degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno. He spent over 15 years in the seismic base isolation industry designing and managing isolation projects throughout the world. Currently, Tung creates structural designs for custom residential, multi-family and commercial projects.