Wayne Schmidt set out on his own and started our firm July 4th, 1976. More than four decades later, we are proud that we are different in all the regards that matter to us, to our clients, and to our community. While we are celebrating our 42nd anniversary this July, we are also celebrating another big milestone: 25 years of having engineering in-house!

We thought it would be interesting to ask our engineers when they first realized they wanted to pursue a career in Engineering. This is what our first group said:

 

Brad Wallace – Mechanical Designer

“Ever since I was a little kid, I was always interested in how “mechanical” things work. I had a love for motorcycles and cars, and I always enjoyed the time I spent with my dad working on them as I was growing up. After college, my first job was with a large national mechanical contractor. I enjoyed my first four years of my career working in the field, learning how mechanical systems were installed and operated. My next career move was working 10 years for a local Engineering firm where I learned how to do mechanical design. I made my final move 14 years ago, to Schmidt Associates!”

 

John Harrison – Plumbing Designer

“I entered the engineering field because of my love of drawing and my obvious passion for working out challenging designs with great detail. Once I began down the path of a plumbing designer and learned how challenging it could be, I was hooked. Designing for special conditions like animal and fish research facilities, laboratories, hospitals and Green LEED designs has made for a very rewarding career decision.”

 

Dave Jones – Electrical Engineer

“I started off my college career as an undecided major for two years. I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do, and I used to be jealous of people who seemed to know exactly what they wanted to do after high school. I took the general classes, hoping something would spark my interest… but nothing. I even tried accounting because my uncle owned his own accounting firm in Florida. I thought I could move down there, enjoy the beach, and work for him. However, I found accounting to be just as exciting as watching paint dry. Since I was good at math, I figured why not pursue Engineering? I didn’t know what engineering really was or what all it entailed, but I had to choose something. After 9 years of school, I finally received my degree at age 27. I could have been a brain surgeon with that much school time, but Engineering turned out to be a good decision!”

 

Jim Heinzelman – Electrical Engineer

“The first time I started thinking about designing electrical systems was in high school where I was taking basic electrical introductory classes. The technology really intrigued me, so I interviewed for a position at a Consulting Engineering firm here in town after graduating high school. I was accepted for a position within the firm, made a transition to work at Schmidt Associates, and I’ve taken higher education classes to advance my career. I’ve never looked back!”

 

Keep an eye out for more of these as the year goes on!