“I enjoy Otak’s great people and the dynamic environment!”
Locations: Portland
Renee Rhiner
Renee is a recognized leader and project manager with significant experience with office buildings, renovations, manufacturing, critical facilities, school, and environmental projects. She has a proven ability to identify and implement scalable processes to reduce costs and improve business practices. Renee believes in an integrated team approach that encourages an environment that builds trust and respect among clients, team members, and the community. With over 30 years managing projects to completion, Renee utilizes an analytical approach while applying strategic thinking, planning, and problem solving. She takes the client’s key objectives into account, assessing potential risks and identifying available best practices. To reduce cost, improve project scheduling, and manage change, she prefers to use Lean principles. Specifically, Renee uses the pull planning tool for scheduling in which every stakeholder collaboratively starts with the end goal and works backward toward the start date. A constant in her personality, Renee specializes in bringing teams together in a spirit of open communication, collaboration, and teamwork to form a plan.
Mike Spelts
“I admired the skills and technology of the surveyors who I saw doing construction staking on my job site. I developed a relationship with them and eventually went to work for them.”
Matthew Neish
Growing up in Arizona, Matthew spent his summers doing construction work. He enjoyed the industry but not the heat! He found a perfect combination of industry and climate in Oregon, where the heat is decidedly diminished. Matthew is a problem solver, happy to handle technical, scheduling or jurisdictional issues to keep projects running smoothly. He stays active in the community, supporting outreach to Portland’s homeless and serving on Otak’s equity and inclusion committee. Outside of work Matthew enjoys spending time with his wife or hitting the golf course.
Margaret Steinhilber
“It’s the people I work with every day who are talented, thoughtful, and dedicated to creating innovative, sustainable, and livable buildings, that make me look forward to coming to work.”
Keith Buisman
“The people at Otak are good to work with and the type of work varies from project to project.”
Kayla Gutierrez
“I enjoy working for a company that appreciates and utilizes my coordinating skills set to contribute to our final deliverables and client services.”
Andrew Lent
“Nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing kids’ eyes light up as they take their first step into a brand-new school.”
Kevin Timmins
As a native Oregonian, Kevin credits the many days he spent outdoors as a youth to his interest in water resources engineering. Otak has always provided him with the opportunity to chart his own course and surround himself with amazing, talented, and interesting people. Kevin brings an ability to see the big picture on projects and know how to navigate through the project development process. He especially enjoyed working on the Bend Whitewater Park project. He sits on Otak’s Equity & Inclusion team, is a member of the Oregon Chapter of the American Public Works Sustainability Committee, and is committee chair for four Boy Scouts of America units.
Chris Maykut
“Traveling the world opened my eyes to the role architecture plays in shaping our environment both spatially and emotionally.”