After 12 years working for other geotechnical consulting firms, Maihan Noorzay knew what he wanted his own company to look like when he launched Noorzay Geotechnical Services (NGS) in Southern California in 2017. “We wanted to take a step outside of the box and offer clients a tailored service providing a custom solution for every need, keeping the line of communication open with clients throughout the project duration,” notes Noorzay, M.S., P.E., G.E., QSD/QSP. And so his company does, providing umbrella services on roadway projects, bridge structures, parking structures, hospitals, residential structures, and landfills.
NGS also has completed hundreds of soils reports for various structures, including implementation of subsurface exploration programs, assignment of laboratory testing, engineering analysis, and final report preparation. Services also include field observations, monitoring, and testing of grading operations, such as fill and backfill placement, subgrade preparations for foundations, and pavements—including over-excavation requirement verification, in-situ BAT permeameter testing, rammed aggregate pier installation quality assurance, forensic distress inspections, Cast-In-Drilled-Hole borehole logging and quality assurance, and oversight of investigation drilling operations. NGS also offers a review of project plans and specifications to verify consistency with the soils report, a review of daily field reports and laboratory test results to ensure the project is being constructed to plans and specifications, as well as technical and budget oversight during construction.
“We also have laboratory experience performing characterization and construction soils tests as needed,” says Noorzay. The company’s geotechnical and geological investigations and pavement evaluations are conducted in accordance with government jurisdictions’ regulations. Materials testing and inspection include soils compaction testing, grading observations, concrete sampling, rebar inspection, masonry, steel, and welding. Forensic engineering services include site inspections, manometer surveys, recommendations for underpinning, and slope stability evaluations. NGS also performs percolation testing for stormwater abatement and septic system design and SWPPP development and inspections for Construction General Permit compliance. Laboratory testing services include soils maximum density, direct shear, consolidation, gradation, hydrometer, R-Values, concrete compressive strength testing, masonry compressive strength testing, asphalt content and stability, and Los Angeles Rattler tests.
What He Does Day to Day
Noorzay spends his days doing everything from chasing leads and preparing proposals to conducting the field investigation and preparation of soils reports. “As a certified small business with only one other employee, we keep very busy in the pursuit of the satisfaction of our clients,” he says. A typical day starts off by reading emails and reviewing projects lined up for the week, as Noorzay determines what is required to complete the job. “Some jobs may be waiting to be drilled, some require laboratory testing results, and others are ready to finalize,” he says. “Once we have all of the laboratory testing and geology, then I perform the engineering analysis to include recommendations for bearing capacity, settlement, slope stability, and liquefaction potential, among other factors.”
What Led Him into This Line of Work
Noorzay had always wanted to be a civil engineer. He earned a civil engineering degree with a specialization in structural engineering from the University of California, Irvine and learned the only jobs available were in the geotechnical field. In his first job after graduation, “I realized the geotechnical field was really where I wanted to be,” notes Noorzay. He returned to school to earn a Master’s degree, specializing in geotechnical engineering from Cal Poly Pomona, then went on to earn his geotechnical engineer’s license. Noting the niche market, he started his own firm “in order to provide my education, expertise, and knowledge on my own terms,” says Noorzay.
What He Likes Best About His Work
“I really enjoy the marketing and business development side of the job,” says Noorzay. “The engineering is fun and comes easily to me. But marketing and business development is a trait that you have to instill in yourself that doesn’t always come easy, especially to an engineer, where sitting in a cubicle and not socializing is the norm. I enjoy meeting people, getting to know people, and chasing the next lead until it becomes a project.”
