What attracted you to this profession?
Since I was a kid, I have always been interested in building things and learning how things work. I would build crude bird feeders or tables, and once, when I was maybe 5, I decided I no longer wanted the training wheels on my bike so I hunted down an end-wrench in my dad’s toolbox and took them off. My dad suggested I study engineering, and now here I am.
What three words would you use to describe your job?
Creative, technical and challenging.
Believe it or not, being an engineer requires a good deal of creativity. An interesting building, like the ones we design at Moseley Architects, are not always straight-forward to design, and sometimes require some ingenuity to get worked out.
There is also definitely a technical side to engineering. Tracking down the forces that act on our buildings and resolving those into the stresses that the selected materials have to resist takes a lot of book-keeping and attention to detail. And it’s the marriage of the creative and technical sides combined with the limitations to where structure can be placed within the building that results in the challenging aspect of engineering.
What are the most important personality traits to have in your profession?
You need to be flexible and have to pay attention to detail. Designs are in a constant state of flux, and a better design for another discipline (and the project) might mean the structure needs to change. We need to be open to this.
What’s a typical week in your job like?
I do a lot of design in the office, but I also get to travel regularly to our project sites to perform structural observations. This is often the best part of the job because I get to see first-hand how my months of design decisions impact and work within the project. It’s also a great opportunity to learn and improve my designs if any construction challenges arise.
What do you like most about your job?
I like problem solving. Figuring out a challenging problem, and then getting to see it constructed in the field is the best part of my job.
What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now?
My coolest project at the moment is a mass-timber forestry building at Clemson University. The support structure is a cross-laminated timber floor deck held up by glulam beams and columns.
What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?
I most enjoy road-tripping and camping with my wife and kids. The US has a ton of cool destinations and we love exploring them.
What music are you listening to right now?
Spoon, The Raconteurs, Death Cab for Cutie, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam…I’m into most forms of rock.
What’s your favorite film?
I could never pick just one, but here are a few of my faves: Disney’s Robin Hood, the Departed, Aliens and Princess Bride.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
A coffee mug that was hand painted by my oldest daughter when she was 5.
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