Senior Lighting Designer Marge Cooper officially retired from her role as Ring & DuChateau lighting design matriarch on May 1. Cooper entered the field of lighting design in 1992, after earning her degree in Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She worked in project support for several years then in 1999 joined Ring & DuChateau, where she’s remained for the past two decades. She scaled back her work hours in 2018 to transition into retirement. Cooper has no official plans for the next phase of life, other than to make no commitments for the first month.

“Ring & Du has been very fortunate to have Marge anchoring our lighting design group for the past 20 years. She was directly responsible for the growth and success of the group,” said Ring &DuChateau President Dave DuChateau. “In addition to her design expertise, Marge always spent the extra time to mentor our younger lighting designers. She has left an imprint on our lighting group that will shine for many years and we will miss her,” said Ring & DuChateau President Dave DuChateau.

Ring & DuChateau is excited to welcome Mike Hoadley as a Senior Project Manager focusing on project planning, project procurement and project quality assurance. He brings to the newly-created position a wealth of knowledge and experience from the contracting industry, which will help grow and strengthen Ring & DuChateau’s engineering opportunities and client relationships.

Mike is a registered Professional Engineer and has spent the last 15 years as an account executive with C.G. Schmidt, a construction management and general contracting firm with offices in Milwaukee and Madison.

“Mike will be a great complement to our current senior project engineering team,” said R&D President Dave DuChateau. “His contracting and project delivery background will add another dimension to Ring & DuChateau and will fit perfectly with our company’s goal of insuring that our engineering process leads to the most effective and coordinated engineering design for our clients.”

Hoadley began work with Ring & DuChateau on March 18.

Lem Hobbs has joined Ring & DuChateau’s HVAC group as a CAD Technician. Hobbs brings to the position 10 years of experience with local electrical and mechanical contractors, having worked on projects including the Fiserv Forum, UW-Madison fitness center and Marquette University dormitories. His initial work in the department will be on utility/infrastructure projects. Originally from the Chicago area, Lem has made the Milwaukee area his home for the past 12 years. In his free time, he enjoys music and arts, including playing the trumpet, acoustic guitar and old-school drawing — on paper.

Jasmin Gibbs has joined Ring & DuChateau’s Electrical group as its newest CAD Technician. She graduated from Wisconsin Art Institute in 2015 with a degree in interior design. Jasmin has experience with CAD design and lighting design, having worked most recently as a junior lighting designer with a local business interiors firm. While she will begin her work at R&D providing CAD support for all areas of the Electrical group, she will eventually specialize to become part of the lighting design team.

Alex Gilgenbach has joined Ring & DuChateau’s HVAC department as an engineer. She is a West Allis native and Milwaukee School of Engineering graduate, holding both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from MSOE. She brings to the new position more than five years of varied work experience in engineering consulting and with design-build contractors. Her project experience includes healthcare, industrial and commercial facilities.