TCEP 033: Civil Engineering Interviews from the Society of American Military Engineers 2016 JETC

The Civil Engineering Podcast visits Arizona for the SAME JETC conference..... Episode 33 of The Civil Engineering Podcast was recorded in Phoenix, Arizona, where I interviewed successful individuals at the Society of American Military Engineers (aka SAME) Joint Engineer Training Conference & Expo (JETC). Here are some of the key points I discussed with ask Adam Hughes during JETC: Adam is a Civil Engineer in the United States Public Health Service that focuses on ensuring that Indian reservations/communities have clean water. He has been practicing in this industry for 12 years now. His team consist out of 14 engineers, drafters, construction inspectors and civil engineering technicians. At the moment they are working with two tribes in southern Arizona. For someone that is interested in management, he recommends to first develop your technical capability and to then develop your verbal and written communication skills. It is also important to find your own management style and gain awareness of your own limitations and preconceptions. We don’t all see a problem the same way and it is not that one way is right and the other way wrong, it is more of trying to understand each other so that we can effectively communicate and work with people. It’s not just about being able to crunch the numbers, you’ve got the take the next step if you want to make change as a civil engineer. Here are some of the key points I discussed with Kris Prasad at JETC: Kris Prasad,PE is the President of Kenall Consulting Engineers in Houston. They have a small firm that they started in 2002. Kris was a cab driver not long ago, but because he already had management skills, he decided to get out and involved with Engineering.  What an inspiring story to hear. Keep doing what you are doing and keep pushing forward is the main advice Kris offered. Here are some of the key points I discussed with Carrie Ann Williams and Mindy Hinsley at JETC: Carrie Ann’s is a principal at Andana Consulting, a firm that provides marketing, branding, strategy, public relations,and communications support on contract and project-by-project basis. Mindy Hinsley divides her time between being a chief marketing officer for a woman owned Industrial Firm, Aria Environmental, Inc. and her own consulting business, Hinsley Collective, LLC, formed to help other firms that needs marketing assistance. People have to do more, they have to embrace it and make smart decisions in understanding the market place. To respond to proposals, you have to have some layers in place to help support all of that energy you put out in a proposal. There is a need to create a culture in a firm, and business marketing is vital. The approach in preparing a proposal should align with your business strategy so that you are not just throwing stuff out there because you can do the work. Stop wasting effort on proposals that don’t matter and put more energy into the one’s that do matter. Tell your story in a proposal about the projects you’ve worked on before and the successes you’ve had with them. That will enable the client to get a sense of who they will be working with and on how you will engage with them. Leadership and ownership have to shift the culture a little bit. Marketing and engineering can be extremely powerful when you put them together. Here are some of the key points I discussed with Dan McNichol at JETC: Dan McNichol is a number one best-selling author and an award-winning journalist. He has worked in the White House and on projects like the Big Dig. His published books,