We Are Loureiro: Tristan Wallace
June 11th, 2024
As a Senior Project Manager within Loureiro’s Building and Land Engineering group, Tristan Wallace’s primary project portfolio involves site design, site infrastructure, and permitting. On any given day, Tristan is working with clients, overseeing technical portions of projects, completing quality reviews, and handling other general project management duties. A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Tristan was initially drawn to engineering because of the ways the discipline affects everyday life.
“One of the things that attracted me to a career in civil engineering is how vital it is to our everyday lives. From infrastructure to livability to social components – it’s such a core piece to the basics of human society and impacts everybody in a holistic way. It’s what drove me to the field, and what continues to drive me to this day. What we do is core to the world we live in.”
Tristan started his career working at a small engineering firm in the south of Boston, but after a couple of years, he was looking for a change. He sought a bigger opportunity and a broader range of projects to work on. He joined Loureiro as a Project Engineer and has since made his way up to Senior Project Manager.
“One of the things that always interested me about what we do at Loureiro comes through problem-solving. As my career has progressed, I’ve been able to take on more complex projects and issues that our clients have, and I’m encouraged to be creative in finding solutions to these problems and putting my own spin on things,” says Tristan. “Kurt Prochorena and George Andrews have always encouraged me to do that, and Brian Cutler is another big advocate of that approach – doing your best to solve a problem before bringing the issue to someone else.”
To Tristan, the opportunities to take on big and complex challenges and develop unique solutions to address them is part of what makes Loureiro unique.
“There are a lot of firms that can do one thing well,” says Tristan. “Loureiro can do many things well. The fact that we’re multi-faceted and that we like to engage each facet of our business as a whole allows me to assess a client issue on a larger scale – how it can affect them in multiple ways that maybe they can’t even see. It allows us to develop more comprehensive solutions. We engage the diversity of our expertise — allowing us to be adaptable and nimble in our ability to problem solve. And that’s what truly sets us apart.”
Outside of work, Tristan dedicates a lot of time to hanging out with his family. The people he cares about the most serve as his motivation in life. He looks to his grandmother for inspiration, calling her “a consistent example of determination.”
“She’s 85 now, going strong, and still takes care of people professionally in a nursing role. Her dedication to her work and her family, helping to raise her grandkids and great-grandkids, amazes me. I look up to her and see her as an example of someone who makes a big impact on the people around her — which showcases how important that is.”
And when the days get long and the work gets difficult, Tristan leans on a piece of advice his mother gave him.
“It relates to working hard and those late nights when maybe you’re questioning yourself and your abilities,” recalls Tristan. “One day, my mother told me, ‘No matter what you do, you have to show up as yourself in whatever it is.’ She has inspired me to stay true to who I am, and that authentic self needs to be present in the work I do. Everything falls together after that. As long as you’re being you, the answers will show themselves!”
