ABOUT US +

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Management Team- Key Personnel

Dennis Knoop, P.E., Principal / CEO
With over 30 years experience in corporate management, engineering, construction, and project management, Dennis has a capacity for both technical and administrative troubleshooting. In addition to his administrative duties, he is still active in all technical aspects of the business. A large portion of his career has been spent in intermediate and specialty chemicals. Specific areas of technical expertise include de-bottlenecking projects, unit upgrades and modifications, manufacturing capacity expansions, plant and facility design, plant utilities upgrades, cost and scheduling, equipment sizing, pipe stress analysis, and process control instrumentation.

Steve Maricelli, Principal / President
Steve manages special projects for high profile or long term clients. He utilizes his 30 years of experience in design, construction, and project management to oversee construction while implementing relevant and practical corporate policies and procedures relating to the staff, business development, operations and safety. In addition to supervising, Mr. Maricelli still plays an active role in estimating, project management, scheduling, and procurement in construction projects.

Fred Flesch, P.E., VP Professional Services
With over 30 years of extensive experience in multidiscipline engineering and detailed design for a wide range of engineering projects, Fred has designed and managed petrochemical, government, and industrial applications in the United States and abroad. He manages engineering projects at DEMAR. Fred is experienced in new grass roots projects as well as those requiring renovation of an existing facility. He has functioned in all stages of a project from conceptual through preliminary design, final design, bidding, and construction. He has performed studies to assist the client in developing project scope and budget and produced detailed construction documents, drawings and specifications.

James D. Weaver, AIA, VP Architecture
Jim has more than 30 years experience in design for the engineering and construction industry. He has a diverse background on all sizes and types of projects. He functions in the arenas of design, project management, construction management, quality control, specification development and analysis, and value engineering. Jim's projects have included master planning/site development, refinery facilities, power plants, maintenance facilities, multi-story office buildings, naval facilities, hospitals, and shopping centers. He is currently responsible for construction document development and coordination, bidding phase, construction administration and quality control and conformance to specifications.

E. Edward Halderman Jr., P.E., VP Construction
Ed has over 25 years of sales, structural design, and project management experience in oil and gas, petrochemical, heavy industrial and power generation industries, both domestic U.S. and internationally. His expertise ranges from structural steel buildings, structures, acoustic treatment of building systems, all the way to managing very complex projects. Responsibilities include sales, project management, engineering, design and cost estimating. Project experience includes buildings for office complexes, petrochemical oil and gas, heavy industrial warehouse, storage, and power generation projects.

Richard Hart, Safety Director / Sales Manager
Mr. Hart has over 35 years experience in management, sales, marketing and safety. He has worked in engineering and construction, chemical and refining, industrial fabrication, and distribution industries. This broad scope of experience gives him knowledge for sales and marketing, but also reinforces his skill in managing and training as the company safety director. Under Richard's guidance, DEMAR has achieved recognition as an ABC Platinum Level STEP award winner and recipient of the ABC National Merit Safety Award. Mr. Hart has completed, with merit, training in OSHA Course No. 500, Trainer Course in Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry and is authorized to conduct the 10 hour and 30 hour Construction Industry Outreach Training Program Courses. Mr. Hart's goal is to be pro-active in assuring that DEMAR personnel and associated subcontractors adhere to OSHA, DEMAR, and client safety rules and regulations.

Founders
Dennis Knoop and Steve Maricelli met in 1976 while working for a mechanical contractor serving industry along the Houston Ship Channel. Dennis was Chief Engineer and a Project Manager. He immediately recognized Steve as the "go to" guy. Steve worked in civil/mechanical design/drafting and later as a Project Superintendent.

Over the next two years, they worked together daily and developed a healthy respect for each other's capabilities. They also realized through a growing friendship that their talents and abilities complemented each other and that their philosophies matched regarding work ethic, honesty, and integrity.

They soon started talking about dreams for the future. As Dennis put it, "I caught Steve in a weak moment and we agreed to start a business together." They formed DEMAR Engineering, Inc., in 1978.

Now, over three decades later, the two partners run an expanding business under the umbrella of DEMAR, Ltd. The company now offers a full complement of design and construction services. One group concentrates on engineering; another focuses on architecture, and the third manages construction projects, some in the multimillion dollar category.

After all these years, Dennis and Steve still bounce the hard decisions off of each other. Honesty and integrity are still their bywords. And they still subscribe to that same work ethic that has brought them through some tough times. In a business environment where partnerships rarely work, here is one with the right formula. And the primary factor in that formula is trust.