Rod Sommer received his Bachelor Degree in Agricultural Engineering in 1978 and his Masters Degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 1987 from the University of Missouri. Rod is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., and Wyoming.

Rod joined Norton & Schmidt in September, 1981. Since that time, Rod has provided structural design, project management, plan review, expert testimony and inspection services to architects, building owners and managers, developers, municipalities, real estate companies, lending institutions, attorneys, plant managers and engineers, contractors, steel fabricators, homeowners and product manufacturers for all types of projects utilizing all types of building materials including wood, cast-in-place, tilt-up and precast concrete, structural steel, cold formed metal framing, masonry, and aluminum. Rod has provided structural design, plan review and construction inspection services for new and existing commercial facilities and retail centers from New York to California and from Michigan to Texas to Florida. Other areas of expertise include banks, schools, parking structures (both new and renovation to existing), churches, police and fire stations, theatres, single and multi-story office buildings, historic buildings, industrial buildings and equipment support, pre-engineered metal buildings, single and multi-family dwellings, grain and feed handling facilities, communication towers and foundations, cofferdam design, and others.