09/01/2022
By Jill Gambon
After nearly 23 years at GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., a large, geotechnical and environmental consulting firm where he had risen to the rank of vice president, Regan joined a small firm that was started by a classmate and a professor from the Francis College of Engineering.
He signed on as managing partner and principal at Geoscience Testing and Research (GTR), which was co-founded by Civil and Environmental Engineering Prof. Samuel Paikowsky, whose lab Regan had worked in as a graduate student alongside Les Chernauskas ’90, ’94, GTR’s co-founder.
Regan was drawn to GTR for the professional opportunity and for the challenge of helping to drive growth for the firm, which is based in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts. And he liked the idea of working with friends. At the start of their careers, he and Chernauskas had shared a cubicle when they worked together at GZA.
“GZA is a great firm, and I had a unique opportunity there through the Big Dig and beyond. I was able to work with some great geotechnical engineers and learned a lot about our industry,” Regan says.
It was precisely that experience on big projects that GTR wanted to tap into, says Chernauskas, who is GTR’s president.
“We knew John had experience working in a big company. He was able to help set up the infrastructure here to help us grow,” Chernauskas says. “We wanted him to join us for years.”
For Regan, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
“It was the right time in my career to take a chance and invest in myself,” he says.
But since then, the company has grown steadily. Revenues have quadrupled since 2016, and the company now has about 30 employees, including several who are based in New York.
GTR’s portfolio includes numerous large-scale, high-profile complex projects, for which it provides geotechnical engineering and foundation services during design, construction and post-construction.
One of the projects the company is currently working on is the replacement of the Walk Bridge in Norwalk, Connecticut, which spans the Norwalk River. The original structure, a 564-foot swing bridge that was built in 1896, carries four Amtrak lines as a part of the busiest rail corridor in the country. The project, the largest ever for GTR, poses numerous engineering and operational challenges, such as maintaining marine and rail traffic during construction, navigating sensitive environmental concerns, and keeping on schedule. GTR is the design engineer of record for all temporary earth support structures that are needed to replace the bridge in the same footprint while keeping two railroad tracks up and running.
Closer to home, the company is working on Phase 2 of the Fenway Center development in Boston, which is being built over the Massachusetts Turnpike. The $1 billion project, part of a new life science campus just outside Kenmore Square, includes a 22-story building with a mix of retail, office and life science space. GTR is the geotechnical consultant to J.F. White Contracting Co. and is involved with the installation of driven and drilled deep foundations that extend 240 feet below street level on both sides of the turnpike and in the median, through the fill that makes up Boston’s Back Bay.
Regan says he and his colleagues take “great pride” in helping clients solve complex engineering challenges.
“One of GTR’s strongest qualities is providing a practical approach to problem-solving. We come up with efficient, cost-effective solutions,” he says.
A Proud UML Alum
Regan credits his UMass Lowell education with building the strong foundation and the professional network that have helped him advance in his career.
“I’m a very proud graduate of UML. I felt like we got a great education at a great value,” he says. “And I made many of my lifelong friends there.”
His decision to enroll at UMass Lowell was an easy one. He grew up nearby in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and was a first-generation college student. His sister attended UML a few years ahead of him, and he followed suit.
“I could drive to campus from home,” he says. “At that time, it made all kinds of sense.”
When Regan finished his bachelor’s degree in 1991, the economy was still sputtering from the effects of a recession. Jobs were hard to come by, so he decided to stay on for a master’s degree and accepted a position as a graduate assistant with Paikowsky on a Federal Highway Administration-funded research project.
“Looking back, I wouldn’t change a minute of it,” he says.
Over the years, he has maintained his connections to the university: He’s a season ticket-holder for UML men’s hockey and has served on the College of Engineering’s Industry Advisory Board. GTR is a strong supporter of the university’s professional co-op program, hiring students for co-op positions and internships and bringing them on as full-time employees when they graduate. According to Chernauskas, 20 of the firm’s 30 employees are UML alumni.
Regan and his wife, Susan, a high school teacher, live in Chelmsford and have three college-age children, Jack, Michael and Patricia.
As Regan’s professional life has circled back to UMass Lowell, so has his personal life. His oldest son Jack, an engineering graduate student at the University of New Hampshire, is currently taking classes at UMass Lowell, including one with Civil and Environmental Engineering Prof. and former Dean John Ting, who served on Regan’s thesis committee 30 years ago.
“Things really have come full circle,” he says.