National Engineers Week: Christopher Barone

Q: What are some of your favorite details about your job??

A: I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of it, and I focus on the same details that I learned in school with engineering. I like that it is straightforward, either something works, or it doesn’t work and there’s no in between. When I’m working on projects, I also enjoy seeing our predictions and modifications in real time at the Greenville Plant.?

Q: What made you decide that you wanted to be an engineer??

A: Growing up I was always interested in physics, building stuff, and problem solving. When in was in school I liked the modeling projects that I worked on and enjoyed the classes that relate to what I’m doing now in analytical predictions. Before I came to HYG 10 years ago, I worked for the Navy where I was in a similar role to what I'm doing now but for our reactors and really enjoyed what I was doing there.??

Q: What are some of your favorite tasks/projects that you’ve participated in??

A: One of my favorite projects is participating in HYG’s new product development and going through the design phase with people to help them improve their designs. I also enjoy finding problems when making a model and potentially seeing what the root cause is. Then being able to come up with a thesis and do physical testing to validate that my predictions are correct.??

Q: Have you participated in any extracurricular activities related to engineering currently or previously??

A: While I was in school, I participated in a few clubs, one being the battle bots club. I recently heard that there is a club in Greenville that creates battle bots so I would like to eventually like to help some students with that. Also, at HYG we have had high school students visit our facility and I have told them about engineering.?

Q: Tell me about your team culture.?

A: I think we work well together. Some of my co-workers have been with HYG for quite a while and have in-depth knowledge of our industry and it’s nice to learn things from them.? I also enjoy the global aspect of my job and being able meet and interact with people around the world.?

Q: Do you have any advice for early-career engineers??

A: Always be curious about the work that you're doing. I always try to come across a new problem like I don't know anything and then apply base principles that I learned throughout school to solve the problem. I think the biggest thing that I've learned and what I would tell people is to listen to what everybody's trying to say about a problem. Many times, different domains communicate the actual problem differently, so I suggest trying to understand where somebody's coming from and then listening to what they're saying and approach the problem with an open mind and questioning attitude.?