Events > Tilt-Up Convention and Expo 2022 - Denver > Featured Speaker

Born and raised in California, Omar had a very personal introduction to the importance of sound building design early in his life. Surviving the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake as a child instilled in Omar a fascination of the powerful forces of the natural world, the mathematics of the built environment, as well as a profound appreciation of proper structure engineering.

Omar went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Structural Engineering from the University of Southern California. He then began his journey as a Structural Engineer working for The Austin Company, an international Design-Build firm, in their Irvine, CA office. During his years as a Project Engineer at the Austin Company, Omar enjoyed reading the florid Building Codes, delved into the intricacies of building design using all of the principal structure materials, put his mathematical tools to use in creating real buildings, and realized the critical role of economy in construction. Omar was promoted to Manager of Structural Engineering of The Austin Company Western Division in 2017, a position which he continues to hold presently.

During his 15 years of experience, Omar has designed and built, among many types of structures, numerous precast concrete buildings both in the United States as well as abroad. Given the varying regions in which the buildings were built, Omar has had to consider an array of unique force types – such as snow, rain, severe seismic, and hurricane wind – to properly detail the structures.

Omar holds Professional Engineer (PE) licenses in California, Virginia, Colorado, and Arkansas, as well as a Structural Engineer (SE) license in California. He also holds a California Real Estate Broker license in California. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California, and the American Institute of Steel Construction. In 2021, with the objective of providing Structural Engineering knowledge to K-12 students via in-person seminars and YouTube videos, Omar founded a non-profit organization, M Sheikh Engineering.