July/August 2021 - 73

MEMBER PROF I LE
Walter Paniagua Combines the Best of Several Worlds
I guess you can say that it's in his
DNA. Walter Paniagua, founder
and CEO of Pilotec in Mexico City,
Mexico, came to the world of
geotechnical engineering and
geoconstruction naturally. His
father, now age 85 and only recently
retired, served as both a
geotechnical engineer and an
engineering contractor. After 18
years at a large geoconstruction
firm, he started his own geoengineering
contracting firm in
1980. Fascinated by his father's
stories of an early career building
tunnels, foundations for large
structures, and subway lines, Paniagua
went to work for his father's
company the following year.
He was still in engineering
mental geotechnical concepts as
well as construction methods.
These include load testing,
instrumentation and numerical
analysis. "
Paniagua bridges the gap
between pure engineering and
construction. Given his interest
and skill set in all things geotechnical,
when asked why he chose a
career in contracting as opposed
to a life in academia or geotechnical
engineering, he responds, " I
found i t eas ier to have an
influence as a contractor with a
geotechnical background than as
a geotechnical consultant with a
construction background. "
Paniagua (left) at a 2012 job site with his son, Walter Jr., a thirdgeneration
civil engineer
school then. Paniagua also took going to
undergraduate and graduate school at
the same time in stride. He hasn't
stopped since. After graduating from
the Universidad Iberoamericana with a
degree in civil engineering in 1984, he
then received his master 's at the
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México. He continues to work on his
Ph.D. while running a successful
geoconstruction firm taking on major
projects throughout Mexico and
Central America.
Multi-Faceted Is Apt
Paniagua could have chosen any
number of professional paths. He is
equally at home in the classroom, at the
drawing board or on the jobsite. He is a
prolific writer, having co-authored 5
books and published more than 80
technical papers. While running a deep
foundations construction company, he
has also found time and energy to help
lead any number of national and
AUTHOR S. Scot Litke, Hon. D.GE
international associations and technical
bodies. He is a past president of
the Mexican Society for Geotechnical
Engineering (SMIG), and has been a
guest lecturer and presenter of short
courses throughout South, Central and
North America. In 2022, he will begin a
4-year term as vice president for North
America of ISSMGE (International
Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical
Engineering).
Paniagua is well known as a design
innovator, as well as for applying stateof-the-art
construction methods,
materials and equipment. He is a
" sponge " for information about applying
new techniques in a variety of foundation
and earth retention projects. A
well-known Mexican researcher who is
his former professor and mentor at the
National Autonomous University of
Mexico, Gabriel Auvinet, puts it this
way, " Walter has an extremely curious
mind. He is always keen to learn the
most recent developments in fundaAcademia
continues to be the
beneficiary of his experience,
though. He guest lectures at the
undergraduate and graduate levels at
the National University of Mexico,
bringing real-world experience into the
classroom (which is heartily appreciated
by professors and students). Leading
Mexican architect and developer L.
Benjamin Romano confirms this when
he says, " Walter's passion for academia,
as well as for the 'well-constructed
foundation,' has been part of his
professional development through his
entire life. " Romano goes on to mention a
particular event that points toward the
construction capabilities of Paniagua
when he relates, " I vividly remember
telling Walter about my concern about
the possibility of polluting the ocean
during a slurry-based construction
process using bentonite. He responded
that he was using a polymer mud that
reflected a shared environmental concern.
I knew at that moment that his
company would be one of my favorite
firms to undertake major projects [with]. "
Areas of Specialization
DEEP FOUNDATIONS * JULY/AUG 2021 * 73
July/August 2021

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