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, 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. Here is what a group of them had to say:

 

Andrew Eckrich – Graduate Engineer

My grandpa was a woodworker (by hobby, not by trade), and mom gave me a hammer and nails before my fourth birthday. A real hammer and real nails. So I picked up woodworking as a hobby at age 10 with just a couple power saws and hand tools. Many of the skills required for woodworking are the same in engineering – practice, patience, determination, attention to detail, and understanding that each piece is a little bit different – so it seemed like a good fit. I knew the hobby that I love could remain a hobby, and an Engineering career would allow for challenge and creativity while paying a bit more.

In college at the University of Dayton, taking courses called Energy Efficient Buildings and Energy Efficient Manufacturing sealed the deal for my career, or at least the beginning of it, in mechanical building systems engineering. After a couple internships in this industry and an extra year studying renewable energy engineering, I landed here at Schmidt Associates. I have very much been enjoying this first year of full-time gainful employment!

 

Steve Olinger (Slo) – Mechanical Designer

I believe I was a freshman in High School on a day trip with my parents to St. Mary of the Woods for mass and lunch at the convent. As we were leaving, we passed the boiler plant. The door was open, so I stuck my head in and saw enormous machinery and an endless number of tangled pipes. An older gentleman saw me in the plant and gave me a quick tour of their operation. It looked overwhelmingly complicated, I couldn’t believe that one man could know how all this stuff works, but some day I’d like to be that guy.

 

Andres Montes – BIM Technician

I’m not an engineer yet, but I went back to school last fall to get my bachelors in mechanical engineering. I knew I wanted to pursue this path after taking a couple of engineering classes in high school, plus math was my favorite subject. I’ve always wanted to know how things worked, from small to big objects. While I was an intern here at Schmidt Associates, I realized how much I liked the atmosphere. I didn’t think twice when they asked me if I wanted to work here full time.

 

Click here to check out what the first group said while you’re at it!