In our ongoing series celebrating the unique contributions of our veterans and active service members, Dawood Engineering is proud to feature Michael Gray, who serves as our Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Manager. Michael joined us last year, bringing a diverse military background from the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Navy Reserve to the Dawood team.
How has your military background shaped your current role at Dawood?
My military journey—spanning locations such as Afghanistan and Okinawa, Japan, to Gulf Port, Mississippi,  Port Hueneme, California, and Virginia Beach—has been integral to my current Dawood role. In the military, I acquired critical skills in construction management, electric and communications engineering, team leadership, and utility design. These skills now drive my success in managing and developing Dawood’s SUE division.
What do you wish more people understood about veterans?
Veterans are often perceived primarily as combatants, but there’s much more to our roles. My experience, especially in construction, was about building vital infrastructure, not just defense. This aspect of service is crucial to supporting both military force and humanitarian efforts.
Talk about your Dawood roles and responsibilities.
As the SUE Manager, I lead the development and support of our SUE department by guiding professional design and utility designation, mentoring and training our staff, developing new contracts, and enhancing existing partner and client relationships. I also prepare estimates and budgets for various investigations to ensure efficiency and accuracy.
Can you share a memorable project at Dawood?
One of our windfarm projects for Commonwealth Wind stands out due to its complexity. The project’s length, critically important public involvement, and need to incorporate Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) work at night presented unique challenges. It required strong leadership and coordination skills, especially when negotiating stakeholder requirements throughout the process.
How do your military skills benefit your current position?
Vital to my current SUE Manager role, leadership in the face of major challenges is a skill that I honed in the military–whether dealing with difficult projects or managing crises. At Dawood, I apply these skills in managing complex SUE assignments, ensuring we deliver accurate data critical to the safety and success of our utility customers.
Can you cite an example?
I navigated a challenging situation where, despite our best efforts, we could not obtain elevation data in Civil 3D despite successful data transfers. With a looming deadline, our continuous communication and late-night brainstorming sessions including expert help from IDS Sales Manager Daniel Broekhove. This collaborative approach, setting egos aside and dedicating ourselves to a shared goal, allowed Dawood to devise a workaround that met our client’s needs. It underscored the power of teamwork and problem-solving under pressure—skills that my military experience has sharpened and that I now apply daily at Dawood.