OUR COMPANY

WE HELP YOU PROTECT YOUR ASSETS AGAINST AN EVER-CHANGING COASTLINE

The shoreline is a continually changing, dynamic environment shaped by wind, waves, and currents. The RACE Coastal Engineering team leverages in-depth knowledge of our unique coastline to provide resilient, cost effective, environmentally savvy end-to-end solutions that protect against the elements of nature.

WE'RE COMMITTED TO YOUR SUCCESS

RACE Coastal Engineering seawall project

The RACE Coastal Engineering team is focused on enabling our clients to achieve their goals with exemplary performance in all project phases, from planning through permitting, design, and construction with our dedicated, in-house staff. While no two projects are exactly the same, RACE draws upon our extensive resume of past experiences - thousands of projects in the last 25 years - to provide the most efficient, effective and innovative designs while meeting high standards of quality and care for our clients.

RACE Coastal Engineering EDGE on the hudson Restoration

RACE Coastal Engineering Residential Dock and Seawall Construction

OUR HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, 25 YEARS AGO

John Roberge founded the precursor of RACE Coastal Engineering in 1999 to provide responsive, quality coastal engineering services to clients while maintaining the highest standards of excellence and integrity. His specialty consulting services were provided from the original office in Guilford, CT and focused on clients throughout the New England shoreline region.

The early 2000’s saw steady growth, enhanced with the addition of Devin and Beth Santa in 2001 to the professional staff. During this time, the team of John, Devin, and Beth worked together on a wide range of waterfront projects and established a hydrographic surveying company to support their operations.

RACE PARTNERSHIP EXPANDS

Roberge Associates Coastal Engineers was formalized in 2004 as a partnership between Roberge and Santa and the office was moved to Stratford, CT. The firm had been increasingly referred to by the acronym “RACE” and, in 2016, the Company embraced its nickname and renamed the firm RACE Coastal Engineering.

Azure Dee Sleicher, Vice President of Coastal Engineering and Partner, joined the team in 2016 bringing her extensive experience in analyzing, designing and permitting coastal erosion protection and living shoreline projects. Ms. Sleicher is also well-versed in the determination of coastal flood hazard areas in accordance with FEMA’s Guidelines and Specifications.

With significant experience leading numerous waterfront projects along with achieving advanced coastal engineering certifications, Project Managers Matt Rakowski and Steve Sternberg were elected Partners in 2022 and promoted to the Leadership Team. Both Matt and Steve are dedicated professionals with a strong history of successful collaboration with their clients, vendors and colleagues.

RACE'ING TO THE FUTURE

In the firm’s first decade, RACE’s coastal engineering, hydrographic surveying, and marine structure design business grew and its reputation as a regional industry leader was firmly established. Projects throughout this time were focused on marinas, yacht clubs, and private waterfront properties.

Since that time our scope of services increased and we expanded our client base to include municipalities, port facilities, and large scale waterfront developers. We are proud to have been the recipient of many awards for our innovative designs.

Today the Professional Team is comprised of experts in coastal, structural, civil, and geotechnical engineering, as well as hydrographic surveying, construction administration services, and marina design. With this skilled team, RACE takes a multi-disciplinary holistic approach to analyzing and solving coastal issues and remains committed to providing exemplary engineering solutions with honesty and integrity to the coastal community reflecting the core values on which the firm was founded.

Moving into our next quarter century of company history, RACE will continue to partner with stakeholders across a wide variety of scale, location, and facility type, to plan, design, and execute sustainable and resilient shoreline infrastructure. Within this wide variety of project and client types is a singular common denominator...the coastline. RACE will remain focused on this unique and complex environment to best serve our Clients now and into the future.

Our Culture

OUR CULTURE

At RACE, our commitment to our work and to our team is something we take pride in. When people ask "what gets you out of bed in the morning?" the answer is clear for us: we love what we do. We get to work to help make the shorelines in our communities a better place to do business, to raise a family, and to have fun. Who else gets to say that? Our engineering firm is the catalyst that allows us to be near our coastlines every day. Our culture is driven by our passion for our work and by our mission, vision, and values. Our adherence to these guiding principles and our commitment to be a strong team helps us do great work that we are proud and fortunate to do.

OUR VISION

To be the preeminent waterfront engineering firm in the Northeast by integrating coastal, structural, and geotechnical engineering while living the RACE Values and pursuing the RACE mission.

OUR CORE VALUES

Honesty & integrity

Our promise to our employees, clients, and the community is to always act with integrity and respect for the coastal environment.

Pursuit of excellence

We draw upon our extensive resume of projects to heed-lessons learned and continually enhance our skills and capabilities in order to provide the most efficient, effective and innovative designs while meeting high standards of quality and care for our clients.

Synergy through teamwork

We approach each project with our clients as a chance to work as a team - always collaborating to achieve the project's goals.

Disciplined approach

We approach every project - no matter the size - with the same proactive planning and quality assurance necessary for successful solutions

Respect family & community

We are committed to learning and exploring better ways to serve our community as we grow as professionals and citizens.

Come join our team if you're passionate about waterfront engineering. That's what gets us up in the morning and we love what we do.

Jump to our Careers page for opportunities

Our Team

OUR TEAM

Jeffrey Aselin

Engineer, EIT

Jeff joined RACE as an Engineer in 2021. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut, Jeff gained valuable experience in the Engineering and Construction industry. Jeff has performed site investigations, prepared design drawings, monitored construction sites with total station survey equipment, submitted permit applications, and performed construction administration services on multiple infrastructure projects.

Jeff’s experience and versatility enables him to work both in-house designing solutions and in the field performing site investigations, documenting construction progress, and assisting with hydrographic surveys.

Jeff has been named a high school All-American Diver and competed in diving for the University of Connecticut. He has travelled nationally competing in Spikeball tournaments. Having grown up on the Connecticut coast, Jeff enjoys sailing, skiing, hiking, biking, disc golf, pickleball, and other outdoor activities.

Suzy Bradford

Engineer, EIT

Suzy Bradford joined the RACE team after graduating from Texas A&M at Galveston. Her admiration for sailing led to her interest in Marine and Coastal Engineering and Maritime Administration. Suzy has extensive experience with the regulatory processes of several Northeastern States, having worked on many projects within Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. In addition to permit applications for public and private waterfront structure rehabilitations and replacements, she has done coastal modeling for beach nourishment projects and marina design, as well as designed coastal structures from residential piers to marina bulkheads.

Suzy’s passion for the waterfront extends past the Long Island Sound shoreline. She sails and races with (and sometimes against) her husband every chance she gets. She has logged thousands of miles in sailboats including loads of offshore races along the Texas Gulf Coast and deliveries from Bermuda and Maine. When not on a boat, she enjoys spending time at the yacht club with friends, painting seascapes, and reading.

Anne Hannan

Office Manager

Anne Hannan joined RACE as Office Manager in 2018 after selling WindCheck Magazine, a monthly magazine for the Northeast boating community. Through sixteen years of business ownership, Anne listened to the needs of recreational boaters, marine industry professionals and waterfront organizations. Prior to that Anne was in Human Resources for pharmaceutical companies. This past experience lends itself well to Anne’s role in marketing, business development and human resources here at RACE.

Anne grew up on Long Island Sound cruising and racing with her family. Anne has participated in Offshore Races and deliveries, including four Newport Bermuda Races, numerous Off Soundings Club series, J/24 Regattas and various regional regattas. Anne, her family and friends continue to participate in the Eastern Connecticut racing circuit, frostbites during the winters and kayaks the Housatonic River.

As the US Sailing CT/NY Regional Sailing Association Representative, Past Commodore of Housatonic Boat Club and of Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association, Anne volunteers to increase adult and junior participation in the region’s boating events.

Chris Kane

Engineer, EIT

Chris joined RACE as an Engineer in 2018. His professional career includes the inspection, structural design, regulatory permitting, and construction oversight of coastal structures such as timber, steel and concrete piers, docks, seawalls, bulkheads. Chris also performs site surveys and hydrographic surveys using RACE vessels. Chris has previous experience in underwater construction working as a dive tender/vessel operator. Chris is well versed in AutoCAD, Excel and vessel operations.

When not at work, Chris enjoys fishing and scuba diving around Long Island Sound and Florida. Chris also enjoys going out on his boat and heading to a beach or Block Island during the summer.

Jonathan Mendoza

PE Project Manager

Jonathan Mendoza is a structural and geotechnical engineer with 10 years of experience inspecting and designing excavation support, bulkheads, piers, shipping structures, and building foundations. Projects have ranged from residential improvement designs to complex commercial and port facility rehabilitations.

Jonathan has designed steel sheet pile, concrete and timber retaining walls, concrete caps and slab, and steel beam supports. Jonathan has coordinated the planning, subsurface investigations, and geotechnical analysis for a wide range of complex projects. Jonathan has managed the rehabilitation of several residential and commercial piers, including forensic investigations into several structural collapses.

When not at work, Jonathan enjoys running, biking, and traveling. He has competed in several running and triathlon races all over the world.

Michael Modica

Engineering Technician

Michael joined RACE in 2022. Michael has a degree in Earth Science with a Geology Concentration and is experienced working in the field of soil inspection and analysis. Michael, ACI Concrete Field-Testing Technician - Grade 1 Certified, has performed laboratory analysis of soil fertility and structural specifications as well as provided quality assurance in commercial and residential settings for rebar, masonry, pile driving and soil compaction projects. Michael recently obtained his FAA Remote Pilot License to be a certified drone pilot and has his Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).

Michael is well versed in geotechnical investigations including borings and sediment sampling projects. Michael is experienced in hydrographic surveying, field research regarding water quality, invasive aquatic plants, and cataloging and mapping invasive plant growth.

Michael grew up on Long Island Sound, working at Sprite Island Yacht Club and enjoys boating, fishing, snowboarding and traveling which led to his three-month road trip exploring 29 national parks and forests across the country.

Debbie Oswiecimski

Accounts Receivable, Billing Administrator

Deb joined the RACE team in 2018 as Accounts Receivable/Billing Administrator. Deb holds a Bookkeeping Degree and has a long career of accounting experience, 29 of those years specific to coastal engineering and marine contracting, with specialization in marine diving prevailing wage, benefits and payroll administration. Deb has been a licensed Connecticut Notary Public for 29 years.

While working in the world of waterfront construction, Deb met her husband Mike and raised their son and daughter. When not at work, Deb loves to spend time with Mike and their kids. During the summer, Deb can be found laying by the pool and working in her gardens. Their family vacations take them to the beaches of Ocean City, MD and Nantucket.

Matt Rakowski

PE, Project Manager

Matthew Rakowski is a structural engineer with experience in the design and analysis of waterfront structures, foundations, and buildings. Matt maintains thorough knowledge in the design of structures and is proficient with modeling applications such as Carlson, Land Desktop, AutoCAD, RISA, Shoring Suite and Allpile which are all typically used for coastal and structural engineering.

His vast design experience includes the engineering of reinforced concrete, cold form steel, steel, timber, aluminum, and masonry structures. He has designed waterfront structures for municipalities, yacht clubs, marinas, performed structural roof assessments for residential and commercial properties, and has design experience with buildings ranging in size from 1,500 to 44,500 square feet for municipalities.

When not at work Matt enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters doing activities which include anything from hiking, swimming, traveling, skiing, relaxing at the beach or at home, and cooking.

John C. Roberge

PE, Founder, Senior Consultant

John Roberge is the Founder of RACE and continues to mentor the professional staff and clients on coastal engineering issues that challenge us. His 45 year career as a coastal engineer has spanned the realm of government service at the USACE Waterways Experiment Station, research and academia at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and engineering consulting with firms throughout the country. John has specialized in ocean wave mechanics, nearshore sediment transport and beach mechanics, dredging and sand bypassing of waterways and tidal inlets, two-phase flow in pipelines and the development of innovative dredge pumps and pipeline systems. He is an expert in physical hydrodynamic modeling, simulating wave transformation, sediment transport, and flow related phenomena in harbors, marinas, water intake structures, and navigation channels using 3-dimensional physical models. His consulting career has exploited his expertise and includes the design of marine and waterfront structures ranging from bulkheads, seawalls, piers and floating dock facilities to innovative shoreline stabilization measures. He maintains extensive interaction with FEMA flood hazard issues, providing innovative approaches for property and structural protection in flood prone areas. He has authored more than 30 technical papers and articles and frequently lectures to public and private audiences on coastal engineering, flood hazard issues, and shoreline protection.

John complements his professional life with active and energetic downtime. He is an avid mountaineer and outdoorsman having summited all 48 of the 4,000 foot peaks in New Hampshire and almost all of the highest peaks in the lower forty-eight. He is an expert alpine skier and manages to sneak in about 50 days a year on the slopes of New England, Utah, and Colorado. We won’t mention his emerging golf game, but he finds more time to work on this in these later years. A former lacrosse player during his undergraduate and post-graduate years, he continues to follow his beloved Tufts Jumbos on their annual quest for the NCAA National Championship(s)! If you want to talk football, just ask how his Fightin’ Gators are doing in the SEC. John is slowly transitioning into a more quiet life with his wife Paula at their mountain retreat in New Hampshire.

Devin Santa

PE, President

Devin Santa joined John Roberge in 2001 as a Project Manager and soon after became a Principal in the firm. Since 2013, Devin has been President of RACE utilizing his extensive experience in waterfront projects and coastal engineering to assist in the overall management of the firm. His professional career has included the management and design of waterfront structures, beach nourishment, coastal flood hazard assessments, dredging projects, and hydrographic surveying. Devin is well versed with coastal regulatory requirements and has successfully obtained permits for his clients throughout the northeast. Devin's academic background includes training in both structural and coastal engineering.

Devin has always been interested in being on and around the water. This could be related to the fact that some of his earliest memories were of the construction of stone jetties in front of his parent’s beach house in Stratford, CT when he was 4 years old and of cruising the coast of New England with his family at a young age. In any case, this call of the sea has driven him both personally and professionally. When not on the water professionally, Devin enjoys spending time on the water recreationally with his wife Beth and their daughters. Devin is an avid offshore sailor and navigator having logged over 30,000 miles in the North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. This has included numerous ocean races including ten Newport to Bermuda Races, a Trans-Atlantic passage and four Marblehead to Halifax Races, most of these in the role of navigator. Additionally, Devin and Beth spent a year of operating a charter boat in waters of New England and the Caribbean. Devin enjoys being able to employ his extensive on-the-water experience to assist clients in the design and optimization of their marine facilities.

Matthew Shuler

Engineer

Matt joined RACE after earning his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut (UCONN). Prior to joining RACE, Matt worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) performing geotechnical engineering. His time as a geotechnical engineer in the Division of Bridges within the DOT has given him skilled insight into earth-structure interactions as well as the effects of water on load bearing structures.

Matt performed research for UCONN in conjunction with the DOT that focused on predictive modeling of a new bridge construction method. He developed a computer model to predict the long-term settlement of the bridge abutments and analyzed the thermal cycles of bridges to develop a deeper understanding of the limitations of the new construction method. At the conclusion of the project, he presented the results at the Northeast States Geotechnical Engineering conference, sharing the new data and analysis with other states’ Departments of Transportation as well as the federal Department of Transportation.

Matt grew up sailing in Eastern Connecticut and is passionate about access and preservation of the coastline. He is intimately familiar with Fisher’s Island Sound, often dropping anchor at East Harbor or West Harbor on summer weekends.

Hailey Simpson

Coastal Resiliency Specialist/Project Engineer/WEDG

Hailey Simpson joined RACE as a Coastal Engineer in 2017. Hailey has a background and a focus in physical oceanic processes and works on a variety of coastal design projects and coastal analysis studies here at RACE. Her work includes performing wave transformation analysis, wave load calculations on coastal structures and coastal flood mapping studies along the Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts coastlines. Hailey has a wide-range of knowledge in federal, state and local regulatory codes and standards and has helped design and complete regulatory packages for residential and municipal piers, seawalls, revetments, marinas and various other coastal structures. She is proficient in AutoCAD, Carlson and a wide variety of wave models developed by the USACE and FEMA. With her growing knowledge base, Hailey collaborates with her fellow colleagues at RACE as well as with numerous federal, state and local regulatory agencies to make the Northeast coastline a better place to work, live and have fun.

Hailey has attained WEDG Associate status from the Waterfront Alliance for demonstrating proﬁciency in sustainable waterfront property development practices.

Originally from Western New York, Hailey fell in love with the ocean while taking family vacations to Wellfleet, Cape Cod every year for the past 27 years and counting. Hailey enjoys spending her time out of the office exploring coastal towns and hitting the beach or hiking trails.

OUR COMPANY WE HELP YOU PROTECT YOUR ASSETS AGAINST AN EVER-CHANGING COASTLINE