Management Team

THE BEST MSE WALL TEAM ON EARTH

Michael Cowell PE, President: As chairman and president, Mike brings over 20 years of MSE leadership and experience to the EarthTec board. Prior to founding the GeoStructures group in 1995, he served as Vice President of The Reinforced Earth Company (RECo) where he headed the Sales, Engineering and Operations functions. While at RECO Mike was responsible for the design and implementation of hundreds of MSE wall projects including structures up to 100 ft. in retained height. Prior to joining RECO, Mike was general manager at the Tensar Corporation where he managed Tensar’s reinforced soil business. While at Tensar he developed many of the systems and design methodologies for using Tensar geogrids in retaining walls and steep slopes.

Mike has published numerous technical papers on the geotechnical properties of mine tailings, the use of geogrids and geotextiles for soil reinforcements, and the design of segmental retaining wall systems. His inventions include two concrete masonry faced retaining wall systems and a wire faced MSE Wall System for which seven patents have been awarded.

Mike holds a MSCE from Cornell University and a BSCE from Clarkson College. He is a licensed professional engineer in Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Matthew Thompson PE, Design Engineer: brings five years of experience in the design of MSE walls for heavy highway and railway projects including bridge abutments (true and false) and embankment retention. He has been responsible for the design of over two hundred MSE projects. Prior to joining GeoStructures, Matt served as a regional engineer with Reinforced Earth Company, with responsibility for RECO’s projects in California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Alaska, and Hawaii. Matt also contributed to an internal R&D program aimed at evaluating metal loss of reinforcing strips retrieved from existing MSE wall structures.

Matt holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech.