Numbers Tell a Story

It's our job as engineers to effectively communicate the story told by the calculations.

In the realm of structural engineering, technical proficiency forms the foundation of competence, yet success hinges equally on a robust array of soft skills.

Intellectual curiosity, effective conflict resolution, and collaboration are key skills serving our profession. However, effective communication skills emerge as pivotal in facilitating the seamless integration of diverse perspectives to enhance project outcomes. The art of good communication ensures that ideas are synthesized harmoniously; harnessing collective expertise to deliver comprehensive structural designs. Beyond technical acumen, these soft skills empower engineers to excel in their field while leading teams and projects with dexterity and foresight.

"Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." Henry Ford

I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with a genuinely nice guy, who also happens to be a communicative structural engineer. Mentor and trainer to our engineering interns, he speaks with experience when he reflects that there’s more to becoming a successful engineer than just being a human calculator. Please enjoy our chat as I learned a little more about what it takes to build our buildings’ bones.

Building Bones is a Miller Consulting Engineers series of articles highlighting the fascinating work being done by a small, Oregon-grown structural engineering firm located in Portland, Oregon. We hope you enjoy meeting our team.

__________

MEET KYLEAN

HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN IN ENGINEERING?

I’ve been in structural engineering for 9 years. (I also completed a geotechnical internship and a transportation engineering internship, before settling on structures.)

WHAT'S APPEALING ABOUT STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING?

I feel like structural engineering is either payback for my childhood proclivities or a natural progression of them. I was THAT KID - passionate about deconstruction (very different than destruction, although my dad may have considered the difference more about semantics). ?I had to know how things worked, so of course, I had to take them apart. VCRs, bread makers, vacuum cleaners, you name it. If I could get my tools on it, it obviously had to be broken down to its smallest individual components. Hand-in-hand with that, I loved (and still love) Legos. The creativity, of figuring out a thing and building something will always be a motivation for me. My career in structural engineering just lets me do it on a much larger scale now.

HOW’D YOU FIND YOUR CAREER?

Although I have a math leaning brain, I followed my friends through a business graduation pathway in high school, and nearly joined them in college for a business degree. I’m social like that, and didn’t initially give it much further thought. Thankfully, my dad, knowing the types of things that really keep my interest over time, suggested engineering schools. He wanted to help me navigate toward a career that I’d enjoy long term and not one I’d eventually find monotonous or boring.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESS

Have you noticed any recurring characteristics or qualities that really stand out when you identify successful engineers?

People often think engineers are nearly myopic about numbers and details. That our brains are so busy calculating that we don’t have the desire or capacity to become good communicators. My experience has been, however, that the really good, really successful engineers own the ability to communicate well. The ability for us to imagine what it is like for someone to lack our specific knowledge is critical to producing designs that meet our clients’ needs. We must be able to process the exchange of ideas and knowledge between a wide range of stakeholders. It's critical that messages are received and understood with clarity and purpose.? Without communication, we’re just a box of calculators and not a team of imaginative, knowledgeable, people ready to create with the world.

DAY TO DAY WORK

What does a typical day look like for you?

I get to the office about 7:00 and spend the first 30 minutes responding to emails, taking care of anything hot that happened over the evening, and running through my project priority list. Then, it’s time to get going.

I enjoy working on a wide variety of projects from small scopes like residential remodels that require very little collaboration, to larger projects that include multiple disciplines like MEP, architects, etc. These require a lot more coordination to ensure there are no conflicts between disciplines when we’re building the design.

We design everything from top down. Opposite from the way structures are actually built. The design process requires understanding the full scope of a structure's load-bearing requirements, making a top-down approach essential for ensuring structural integrity.

AWESOMENESS

Is there a project you worked on where you felt, “my job is awesome?”

There are plenty, however, the first time I had this feeling was on the Crown Zellerbach flow gate in Albany, Oregon. The City of Albany built a power plant off the Albany Santiam Canal. However, it couldn’t go into operation until the upstream flow gate structure (built in the 1920s) was evaluated for stability. We needed to ensure that the flow gate would not fail in order to help protect the down stream power station. Our initial assessment determined that during a seismic event, the flow gate was susceptible to sliding and overturning. Several ideas were discussed on how to resolve these potential failures. We ultimately landed on my suggestion which was to add a bunch of weight to the structure. We ended up adding about 110 cubic yards of concrete to the existing structure. ?I really enjoyed the process of problem solving and thinking through the challenges and possible resolutions. When you finally find the trick, the solution, that payoff is a quite rush.

HOBBIES

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I'm a fair weather out-doors person. I enjoy rec softball (having played baseball through school), golf, skiing, fishing, camping, hiking. I also like to try to figure things out to see if they are something I can do, so, I spend a good amount of time on home projects. Last year I did a DIY reroof on my home. I will conclude by stating that I did not fall off the house during the process and I never want to participate in roofing again.

__________

Typically working behind the scenes on projects, structural engineers are the innovators and problem solvers that move the artist's vision into real, workable plans that contractors can use to actually build the structures. Stay tuned for more interviews behind the screens, with the folks whose passion it is to make our structures possible and safe. You can learn more about our team at miller-se.com.

Jane Mayfaire, Business Development | Miller Consulting Engineers | 07/2024 BB9

Series Index

Article 1 | Building Bones, Article 11-2023 | Kevin McCormick, PE SE, Principal

Article 2 | Building Bones, Article 12-2023 | Lane Jobe, PE SE, Principal

Article 3 | Building Bones, Article 01-2024 | Sherri Mansur, Controller

Article 4 | Building Bones, Article 02-2024 | CJ Marquardt, PE, Assoc. Engineer II

Article 5 | Building Bones, Article 03-2024 | Michelle Juarez, PE

Article 6 | Building Bones, Article 04-2024 | Ben Steer, PE

Article 7 | Building Bones, Article 05-2024 | Jordan Toews, PE

Article 8 | Building Bones, Article 06-2024 | Jennylin Lopez, Structural Designer

Article 9 | Building Bones, Article 07-2024 | Kylean , PE, Assoc. Engineer I