Extreme Engineer of the Month

Education: B.S. in Civil Engineering, Cornell University, 2004 M.Eng. in Civil Engineering, Cornell University, 2005 Favorite Classes: Construction, forensic engineering, business, project management, and engineering management. Best Skills: Problem solving, giving presentations, and coordinating projects. Hobbies: Playing soccer, modern economic theory, business models, living in New York City, and interacting with classmates and fellow professionals. Role Models: Both my parents are professionally licensed civil engineers and have had the biggest influence on my career. I've also had great mentors at Cornell, at each company I've worked for, and in the construction industry who have a really positive impact on my personal growth and development. Advice: The first children's book Theodor Geisel wrote was rejected by 27 different publishers before he finally found someone willing to give him a chance. "Dr. Seuss" went on to sell over 200 million copies of children's books worldwide. Find something you really want to do, and go after it. No one knows where you will end up, or if you will find something better along the way. As long as you are always willing to learn and adapt you will be successful. Stay optimistic, and never, ever, ever give up.

As a kid, Rob had all the tell tale indicators of being a future engineer. Not only was he one of those Lego Mania kids, engineering was in his genes. Both parents were civil engineers. And not unexpectedly, Rob's favorite subjects were math and science. In junior high and high school, he particularly liked science fairs. He found the problem-solving challenges they presented very satisfying, and in retrospect, he says they helped to prepare him for the engineering curriculum. Rob also played soccer, ran track, was a member of the investors' club, and did peer counseling, so be brought well rounded skills and broad perspective to his interest in engineering.

He prepared well for engineering with many advanced placement classes, had good grades, and applied to 13 schools. Rob was fortunate to be accepted at his first choice, Cornell. The bigger decision for him was whether to major in mechanical or civil engineering. He liked problem-solving and playing with mechanical devices, so he started there. Within the mechanical engineering subsets, Rob found that he leaned toward structural analysis, cross-over field which led him to civil engineering. As he learned more about the specialty, he realized he wanted to concentrate on civil infrastructure. Construction planning and operations were among his favorite classes. As is typical for civil engineering students, he enjoyed participating in the annual concrete canoe competition. (Students build canoes out of concrete and race them. The winning canoes not only don't sink, they actually move quite well!) He also served as an officer in the student chapters for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Rob graduated in civil engineering with a minor in mechanical engineering in 2004, and with the encouragement of his parents, decided to go ahead and get his masters degree. At that point, he had already gotten some excellent work experience through the internships he did each summer as an undergrad. But it was the three-week internship over winter break his senior year with Thornton Tomasetti, then LZA Technology, that had the biggest impact on his career — pointing him in the direction of forensic engineering. There Rob worked on the Tropicana parking garage collapse project in which a collapse during construction killing four workers. The summer after he graduated, he did an internship at Capital Project Management, Inc. (CPMI), which specializes in project delay failures — what went wrong to cause construction delays — another aspect of forensic engineering. The challenge with construction delays, Rob says, that that the project is already complete when you investigate it. "There's no physical evidence," he says. "You have to piece it all together."

With his direction set to forensic engineering, his master's degree was in civil engineering focused on engineering management and forensic engineering. Upon graduation, he was hired by Wiss Janney, Elstner Associates, a large civil engineering firm with a concentration in forensic engineering. The first project he worked on at WJE was another aspect of the Tropicana parking garage collapse involving a load test of the existing concrete in the parking garage. Rob says it was very exciting to work on such a large and important project so soon out of school. Other projects he worked on at WJE included investigating façade failures and vibration testing at a professional football stadium. He also went to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to inspect several damaged buildings, which gave him a first-hand opportunity to see the damage. In addition to the sites he was investigating, Rob was able to drive around and see all the damage first hand.

Shortly after joining Exponent, his current employer, Rob traveled to Hawaii to do building inspections following the November 2006 earthquake. Exponent specializes in both aspects of forensic engineering — structural failures and schedule delays — a perfect fit for Rob. A recently completed project was a schedule delay case involving a highway under construction in Salt Lake City, UT. He likes the wide variety of projects because he is constantly seeing new things. "Each failure is unique," Rob says. "There is always something new to learn on every project." Although Rob has not been in the work force that long, he has already worked on a number of large, important projects.

Rob is also gaining valuable experience and knowledge in the field by actively participating in the American Society of Civil Engineers, where he serves on the Technical Committee on Forensic Engineering (TCFE) and belongs to ASCE's Construction Institute's Younger Member Initiative. Among the projects underway at TCFE is a failure database to make information more widely available about failures. Rob has really enjoyed his involvement with these groups, and believes that getting involved in professional groups helps to advance your career.

Rob credits his internships as a critical factor in the success he's achieved so early in his career. "Internships make a big difference," he says. "Each internship helps you get the next one." Although you can sometimes get internships through your school, you often have a better selection if you set up internship on your own. Rob leveraged a network of contracts through his parents and friends and also contacted companies directly. His advice is just to stick with it until you find a good internship. "It definitely pays off," he says. He noted that in addition to large firms, many smaller firms offer internships; they just don't advertise them. You have to go find and contact them yourself.

In addition to working on interesting projects, and his involvement with ASCE, Rob is also working on getting his Professional Engineers (P.E.) license so that he gives expert testimony in cases that go to trial. He is looking forward to being an expert witness as the next step in his career.