To continue celebrating National Engineers Week…
Today, we’re highlighting one of NOTU’s facility’s engineers Ryan S. from St. Louis, Missouri.
Ryan’s motto is, “If it’s not broken, take it apart and fix it.”
That makes a lot of sense when take into consideration that Ryan, who is NOTU’s crane program manager and certifying official, is a mechanic engineer; which, going back to the Oxford English Dictionary, is literally the branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of machines and mechanical implements.
He said his interest in engineering grew out of spending time in parent’s garage fixing old lawn mowers. “I excelled in both math and science in school,” he adds.
“Originally, I wanted to work for a car manufacturer after college,” he adds, “but that didn’t quite work out.
“I also took an architecture class once,” he says, thinking that perhaps designing structures might be in his future, but “that bored me to death, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that for very long.”
So, after completing bachelors in mechanical engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology, Ryan took on several opportunities before landing here at Cape Canaveral. Ryan was an internal with Manufacturing and Duke Manufacturing St. Louis; and a project engineer with United States Gypsum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before moving on to Walworth, Wisconsin, to be a maintenance manager for United States Gypsum.
Engineering is not a pin-point focused career path. There are many different aspects to it. Ryan recommends for those considering engineering as a career path, “go to school for a general engineering degree, like mechanical, civil, or electrical engineering,” he says.
“Try to get several different internships in different industries to figure out what you like best,” he adds. “With all of the different positions out there you might find something else you really enjoy even though you started out in engineering in a different pursuit. From there you can get additional education or take more specific courses to get more specified in engineering.
“For me, I like anything that will keep me out of meetings,” he says. “I don’t like meetings.”
Director of Engineering - East Coast at ZAP Engineering & Construction Services
3moI can't thank Jake Tufano enough for his tour yesterday. I think that Carly and Eli both learned a tremendous amount in their time this summer, but nothing compares to seeing equipment in the field.