Staff Spotlight: Hao Liu, PE, PhD

Dr. Hao Liu, PE, is a skilled Project Engineer at Civiltec Engineering with over eight years of experience in civil engineering design, hydrology, and construction management. His expertise spans water and wastewater engineering, including complex projects such as reservoir design and advanced treatment systems. Known for his analytical approach and collaborative spirit, Hao combines technical proficiency in AutoCAD Civil 3D and ArcGIS with a background in hydrology research, ensuring innovative, data-driven solutions for municipal and environmental projects.

Reflecting on your career journey, what personal or professional skills have you developed since starting at Civiltec that you’re particularly proud of?

Professionally, I’ve gained experience in equipment vendor coordination, construction management, developing project design and bid documents, and working with various government agencies and water districts. These skills have strengthened my ability to manage complex projects efficiently.

Personally, I’ve picked up a variety of hands-on skills, from car repairs—like changing timing belts and engine mounts—to helping friends and coworkers with vehicle maintenance. I once helped a Civiltec colleague replace his front and rear struts and got compensated in cash! Outside of work, my experiences as a father and my love for off-roading have also helped shape who I am today

Having worked on various water treatment and infrastructure projects, is there a project or challenge you’ve faced that significantly shaped your approach to engineering? (whole career is fine does not need to be civiltec specific)

My approach to engineering has always been meticulous—I focus on ensuring everything shown in the plans is as precise as possible. However, working on multiple projects with different project managers and tight deadlines has taught me that I can’t scrutinize every detail alone. I’ve learned to trust my teammates and rely on them to be responsible for their contributions. The fast-paced nature of our projects has really pushed me to adapt and collaborate more effectively.

Since joining Civiltec, how have you seen your role evolve, and what areas are you excited to continue expanding into?

F14 Summit Wastewater Treatment Plant solid handling project, was overwhelmingly challenging to me at first. At the beginning I was not even clear with the design intention and process flow for the sludge to go from sedimentation basin, to a sludge collector, then through 1st lift station pump (US pump company) then transfer to a gravity thickener, then bottom sludge get sucked (by European pump vendor) to the sludge holding tank and then transferred again to the centrifuge feed line to feed into the centrifuge system (by a European company). At last the dried sludge cake/slop was transferred through a conveyor system (US firm) to the truck loading area, and hauled away from there, every step was totally new to me. 

Each step involved coordination with vendors, reading specifications, and understanding why certain design decisions were made. Over time, I became more comfortable with process engineering and started to enjoy the challenge.After dipping my toe in the process engineering I enjoyed swimming in it. I am also very excited to do flood dams design. In my college years, I tried to find out the gravity dam’s most optimized sectional curvature in mathematical formulation, so it’s an area I’ve always been interested in.

Can you share a recent accomplishment in your professional life and what that process what like?

Earning my California PE license was a significant milestone. Preparing for the exam required dedication—many weekends were spent reviewing materials and solving practice problems. Initially, I wasn’t a fan of online video courses, but after failing the seismic exam twice, I realized they were incredibly helpful. I also developed a color-coded system for quick reference during the test, marking key tables with different colors for easier lookup.Code wood with cyan, steel with red, and code “moment frame” to yellow, “steel frame” to blue, ect, this helps quickly look up required coefficient in that table during text. My suggestion to upcoming exam-taker use this method and practice looking up the coefficient quickly.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank many Civiltec co-workers who help me, share with me and especially encouraged me along the way. 

As you look ahead in your career, what are some professional goals you’re excited to pursue, and how do you see these goals aligning with Civiltec’s vision for the future?

Learn to be a leader in a project. Civiltec has a great abundance of opportunity and supportive managers, co-workers. Workspace is open and people are ready to share what they know.

How would you describe the company culture at Civiltec, and what do you enjoy most about being part of the team?

I think despite of difficulty and challenges in technicals of the project, everybody keeps a good spirit and keep the workspace atmosphere light and fun. 

What’s one piece of advice you would offer to young engineers just starting out in the field?

I would choose the following sentence: Do what you are good at. 

I mean if you are good at exams, take PE exams and pass them. If you are good at engineering design, keep doing it even in your sleep you will be designing. If you like writing report, leave the other work to others and focus on the writing. Do not need strive to compensate what you feel you are lack of, just admit you can not do it well. Today we are in a teamwork age and it’s more important to use your time wisely rather than trying to compensate for areas where you struggle.

What sparked your interest in stargazing and film photography, and what do you enjoy most about each of these hobbies?

Stargazing started with one time I saw a list of ten darkest site in Southern California, I saw the closest one is Templin Highway, which is still 2.5 hour drive from where I was at that time (Irvine, Orange County). I asked two friends to go with me and we stopped near the side of the road and parked to star gaze. We counted about 3 or 5 shooting stars but it was enough fun for those who never seen one (myself included). After getting married, we enjoy taking our kid camping. I always choose high in the mountains for the summer time or in the desert for the winter time. Aways keeping an eye on the moon phase for the best stargazing conditions and watch for the moon phase.

If you could spend a day doing anything you wanted, what would your ideal day look like?

Off-roading during day time in Mojave Desert and grill, camp, enjoy the night with stargazing and sleep in the truck. It is not for faint of heart to travel alone with a single truck in Mojave Desert, but questions said do anything you want.