Liu trumpets success through dedication to career

Green Builder of the Year
Louis Liu – CG Schmidt

Louis Liu – CG Schmidt

Louis Liu wanted nothing more than to attend a Badger football game.

As a student from China starting his freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Liu’s biggest aspiration was to be in Camp Randall’s stands on game day. He tried searching for tickets to a game online. No luck. So he programmed two computers to search the web for tickets. No luck either.

Then, ahead of the first day of school, Liu got an email with a newsletter singing the praises of UW-Madison’s marching band. Though he played piano, Liu knew almost nothing about marching bands – which hardly exist outside the U.S.

Still, Liu figured it was his best shot at attending a game. He arrived at UW-Madison’s registration week with a trumpet mouthpiece, but no trumpet. A grueling two-week tryout followed. The band’s longtime director, Michael Leckrone, told Liu he’d be surprised if he made the cut.

After enduring six hour-long marching band practices, Liu recruited older students to teach him to play. Ultimately, Liu learned the band’s third trumpet part and passed an audition. He would go on to play trumpet in the band for five years.

Liu applies the same dedication to his role an MEP Engineer at CG Schmidt. When he was a child growing up in China, Liu sometimes couldn’t see the stars at night because of pollution.

He has now found an opportunity to make a difference in construction.

At CG Schmidt, Liu has helped develop a master plan for the West Allis West Milwaukee School District to help officials improve the energy-efficiency of school buildings. Liu also oversaw a project at the contractor’s Madison and Milwaukee offices to meet the WELL building standard, which puts health at the center of building designs.

“There’s so much energy consumption in buildings,” Liu said. “For myself, working in preconstruction you can really make a difference.”