2021 Metal Construction Hall of Fame
Terry Wolfe grew up wanting to be an engineer. As a youth he displayed strong engineering aptitudes and an interest in the construction industry.
He attended Virginia Military Academy (VMI) in Lexington, Va., where he earned a Civil Engineering degree and gained a strong base in professional ethics. He entered the U.S. Army following graduation to continue in the field of military engineering. In his early army years, he earned his Professional Engineering licensure and after leaving the Army, he decided to turn to engineering design work in the commercial industry, focusing on metal construction.
Why a career in metal construction? “A good friend from VMI who was already in the metal roofing industry told me there was a real shortage of engineers in this field,” Wolfe says. “We started doing metal roofing designs in his garage of a three-story condo and then it expanded from there.” What followed throughout his lifetime has been an expansion of Wolfe’s unique engineering talents and guidance to the betterment of the metal construction industry.
Fulfilling a Need
Houston-based MBCI hired Wolfe as general manager of product services where he oversaw the engineering department and was responsible for getting MBCI products Factory Mutual (FM) approved.
Wolfe says getting MBCI’s products Factory Mutual (FM) approved (something he calls a “tedious process”) so they could be sold worldwide, was one of his major career accomplishments. Additionally, he got all of MBCI’s products’ cold-formed componentry such as panels and shapes approved for the International Building Code (IBC). “We got a full evaluation report ready after working on it for months so we could sell MBCI products along the West Coast. MBCI didn’t have the engineering aspects ready so this was ‘jump through hoops’ for us but another one of my major accomplishments.” Wolfe even worked with MBCI’s vice president Jerry Boen, and R&D manager, Ken Buchinger, to develop and introduce the SuperLok mechanically field-seamed, vertical leg standing seam roof system.
Serving Clients’ Needs
After five years at MBCI, Wolfe chose to further expand his knowledge and skills in metal construction and strike out with a bold professional move. He opened his own business for engineering design and then an International Code Council (ICC)-certified test lab to better serve his clients’ needs in structural design and product development. Located in Humble, Texas, he called it Force Engineering and Testing, and he owned and operated it for 20 years.
Rollforming’s evolution was one of his motivations for his start-up company. “Rollforming’s technology was getting better and panels no longer had to be made in a fixed facility. Many rollformers were coming out that were as good as what we were rolling in the shop and full-length panels could now be run without having to worry about end laps. When I saw that developing, I knew I could make suppliers competitive. I was in the background for many small companies that got into rollforming to make their own panels.”
“I like the versatility of light-gauge framing systems. I’ve designed buildings all over the country with it and I’m amazed by what we’ve been able to do with it. Its versatility is mindboggling. We’ve been able to advance the industry into so many different areas because it’s a great product.”
It wasn’t just these small companies Wolfe helped with testing and design work through his company. Other customers ranged from fabricators, erectors and owners on projects such as private residences to projects for the U.S. government stateside and abroad, and also architects and fellow design engineers. His work has included structural design, expert witness in construction legal action and product testing. He has a solid reputation for basing his designs on structural soundness as well as value engineering.
There’s Always a Solution
Chuck Howard, PE, Metal Roof Consultants, Cary, N.C., and a member of the Metal Construction Hall of Fame, has known Wolfe for 25 years and has done a lot of testing at his facility. “I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a good, practical engineer—he is not just sitting there cranking out numbers, he has stuff you actually build. He does ASTM-1592 testing—which is what we use—for single-skin metal panels. I use it all the time and it changes a lot with different versions. He knows how to interpret it and so I use him as a resource. He is an expert in those areas, and you can tell he is deeply passionate in providing these services to the metal roofing industry. His engineering knowledge and abilities are second to none. He has made an exceptionally large impact on how light-gauge framing and metal panels have made a positive impact on the metal roofing industry.”
Dale Nelson, president of Lutz, Fla.-based Roof Hugger, and member of the Metal Construction Hall of Fame, has witnessed first-hand Wolfe’s engineering expertise and contributions. “When Roof Hugger was just starting out, Terry provided guidance on how to properly design and test its products for industry acceptance. Early on, the roof area was treated as a single zone with uniform pressure across the whole roof. The building code changed, and it recognized that edges and corners saw higher pressures than the majority of the roof area. We didn’t know what to do with that information and didn’t know how it affected the panels. Terry suggested the most common systems, educated us on code requirements, and helped to identify the strengths and weaknesses in our product. He provided guidance for designs to allow the new panels to comply with the codes in the fairly new market of metal-over-metal retrofit roofing.”
Mark Wendleburg, owner of Houston-based Commercial Siding and Maintenance, says his company has encountered numerous projects that need out-of-the-box analysis to be able to install its products. “Terry has been able to engineer our projects using the most cost-effective and structurally correct designs. When we run across a project that cannot be designed using standard engineering formulas, Terry [suggests tests] that assist us with designing our roofing projects to allow us to move forward on the job.”
Justin Farris, president at San Antonio-based Lobo Steel, says, “I have worked with many engineers, but there is no engineer that I trust as much as Terry Wolfe. In my opinion, Wolfe literally wrote the book on light-gauge metal buildings. We have leaned on Wolfe many times over the years to give his insight and his professional opinion on numerous occasions where problems have risen in the field and we did not know what to do or how to fix them.”
Brian N. Jaks, PE, vice president of sales and marketing, Green Span Profiles, Waller, Texas, contends that anyone who’s worked with Wolfe knows he’s arguably the best cold-formed steel engineer in the country. “His designs are impeccable and incredibly thorough, and he never compromises what’s right. I can assure you, if you’re ever in a Terry Wolfe-designed structure, he’s really good and you’re really safe.”
Wolfe sold his company in 2020, is semiretired, but still does consulting. “I’m still working on multiple projects all over the country, mostly metal roofing and restoration of buildings that need reroofs. We are busy. I never want to be unavailable to those who need me.”
