Our Team
Jeff Puckett, P.E.
President
Since joining the firm in 1994, Jeff has provided project management, engineering, and construction quality assurance on hundreds of trenchless pipeline and utility installations. He is a recognized expert in the specialized field of HDD design and is a licensed Professional Engineer in 18 states. In addition to positioning J.D. Hair & Associates as the standard-setter in trenchless engineering, Jeff played a vital role in developing several reference publications addressing various aspects of HDD design and construction. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the North American Society for Trenchless Technology, and the Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa. In 2022, he was elected to a two-year term on the Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa Board of Directors.
Jeff Scholl, P.E.
Vice President
Jeff is a licensed Professional Engineer in 18 states and has more than 27 years of experience. He oversees the firm’s engineering processes and provides project management, engineering, and construction quality assurance for HDD, Direct Pipe®, and other trenchless installation methods. Jeff has been instrumental in successfully completing numerous significant projects with challenging trenchless installations, including Nexus Gas Transmission and the New Jersey-New York Expansion Project, which was awarded the 2014 New Installation Project of the Year by Trenchless Technology magazine. He is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the North American Society for Trenchless Technologies and the Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa. He is vice chair on an ASCE committee developing a Manual of Practice for Direct Pipe® installations.
Dylan Bruntzel
Senior Project Manager
Dylan plays a crucial role in the design and project engineering of pipeline and utility installations using HDD, Direct Pipe®, and other trenchless methods with over 16 years of experience. In addition to having substantial experience monitoring construction operations throughout the United States and Canada, Dylan is a skilled project manager who consistently exceeds client expectations. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa.
David Patonai, P.E.
Project Manager
David began his engineering career in 2007 after completing his service in the U.S. Army. Since joining J.D. Hair & Associates in 2012, he has provided design engineering services on numerous HDD projects and has spent a significant amount of time on job sites monitoring trenchless construction operations. David is a licensed Professional Engineer in seven states and is a member of the Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Luke Bever, P.E.
Project Manager
Luke joined J.D. Hair & Associates in 2013 after spending two years at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation assisting in the design of state bridges. He has more than ten years of experience and possesses a technical proficiency that has been instrumental in developing many of the firm’s current engineering processes. Luke has a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Oklahoma and is a licensed Professional Engineer in three states. He is a member of the Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa.
Austin Miller, P.E.
Senior Project Engineer
Austin joined J.D. Hair & Associates in 2014 and has more than 8 years of experience providing engineering and construction monitoring services on trenchless installation projects. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa. Austin graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 2014 and is a licensed Professional Engineer in three states.
Sean Larson
Senior Construction Manager
Sean began his career in 2007 in the field on a drilling crew. He joined J.D. Hair & Associates in 2022 and brings a wealth of on-site knowledge and experience in monitoring and inspection for Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), Direct Pipe, and Microtunneling operations. Larson’s expertise ranges from rig refurbishment and productivity, organizing documentation, state regulatory compliance and agency permitting, filing inspection and agency notifications. He has been an inspector for HDD crossings on large projects, such as NEXUS Pipeline, for owners and contractors. At JD Hair & Associates he is responsible for on-site inspection that interfaces directly with engineering for trenchless projects to deliver more completed documentation and reporting to owners, contractors, and engineers.
Kyle Wardlow
Project Engineer
Kyle interned for two summers in the oil field before obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Following graduation, he worked as a Wireline Engineer, where he provided wireline logging services on numerous wells in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. Kyle joined J.D. Hair & Associates in 2018 as an Associate Engineer, providing engineering and construction monitoring services on a variety of trenchless projects. His experience with downhole drilling operations made for an easy transition to the trenchless industry. Kyle is a member of the Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa.
Ryan Ward
Project Engineer
Ryan joined J.D. Hair & Associates as a Project Engineer in 2022 after working for several years as a Field Engineer at Michels Trenchless, Inc. Working for two companies in the Michels Family of Companies has allowed Ryan to build unique insights into trenchless construction methodologies, including microtunneling, from the perspectives of a design engineer and contractor. Ryan graduated from Gonzaga University in 2020 with a degree in civil engineering.
Isabela Spelta
Project Engineer
Isabela earned a Bachelor of Technology in Civil & Environmental Engineering from State University of New York in 2020. After college, she began her career logging geotechnical borings and gained experience working with the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) on state-level infrastructure. Isabela joined J.D. Hair & Associates in 2022 and her field experience in subsurface investigation and geotechnical evaluation helps provide engineering services on a variety of trenchless installation projects. Isabela is certified as Engineer-in-Training (EIT) and has earned industry-related certifications from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and NYSDOT.
Cheri Graves-Ohlmann
CAD Drafter
Cheri received her A.S. in Drafting & Design Technology from Tulsa Community College in 2020. She has several years of experience as a Drafter in a Civil Engineering capacity. At J.D. Hair & Associates, she is closely aligned with construction Project Managers to design concepts for workspace layouts, graphically convey construction plans, and develop and maintain CAD standards.
Marie Kelly
Office Manager
Marie uses per passion for innovative leadership, business development and operations to support the engineering team and ensure the growth and high-performance culture of J.D. Hair & Associates. Marie joined J.D. Hair & Associates in 2022 after relocating to the Tulsa area from Arizona where she managed a mid-sized law firm for nearly 25 years. Marie’s experience in corporate law and office management uniquely enables her to handle the firm’s business activities.