SPARK

Discoveries, innovations, and insights that illuminate the future of the built environment

How to engineer an engineer

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Greetings once again! For those who don’t remember my first post, I’m Jason Orr. I’m working as a mechanical design intern on the Energy team in Seattle this summer. Since arriving in May, I’ve experienced a steep learning curve. Luckily, my all-star team is full of patient and flexible people willing to help a rookie like me.

Jason Orr, at his desk in Seattle.

In short, McKinstry’s Energy team is responsible for projects that involve existing buildings. Since humans aren’t perfect, the buildings we design aren’t either. We try to ensure that, say, a hospital that’s been standing for 100 years is there for 100 more. In the age of sustainability, another goal of ours is to make everything more efficient. How can we save the customer money while also saving the planet?

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“Ask an Intern”: Clarissa Ferreira answers seven questions about her internship

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Q: How would you describe what you’re doing this summer in 50 words or less?

A: As a construction intern for McKinstry’s Phoenix office, my role includes assisting in the coordination and documentation of project-related activities, specifically for a project at the University of Arizona.

Clarissa Ferreira on a jobsite visit at the University of Arizona.

Q: What’s one thing about McKinstry that you’ve been surprised to discover this summer?

A: I’ve been truly impressed by the quality of the people. Everyone I’ve come across at McKinstry has been amazingly kind, competent and helpful.

Q: What misconceptions do you think people have about being an intern?

A: One misconception (and borderline fear) for many students about being an intern is that you’ll be getting coffee instead of doing valuable work that can help build your career. One of my personal misconceptions was that I would be expected to know a lot more than I do. However, my experience at McKinstry has been that you do not know what you do not know, and asking questions is encouraged. Asking questions has given me the opportunity to get the most out of my internship and gain a lot of valuable experience.

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Leaning and learning at McKinstry

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One of the things that attracted me to McKinstry’s internship program was the opportunity to work on a team where I was of tangible use. So far, my experience has been just that—I’ve been an entry-level design engineer who gets to learn while doing work that needs to be done.

Bunji McLeod at his desk in McKinstry’s Spokane office.

Energy auditing and mechanical design adjustments to boost energy efficiency has been the name of the game for me as I’ve worked in the Spokane office this summer.

During my first week on the job, I traveled with Derek Larson, a design engineer, to a small town in the rolling hills of the Palouse. McKinstry recently helped a small school district there win a large grant to fund an elementary school renovation. The building itself was two stories and made up of several classrooms, office spaces and a gym whose layout was engraved into stone tablets by an architect in the Jurassic era (OK, it was 1927). Adaptations and renovations since then have added offices and rooms to the plans we didn’t know about until we stepped into the school.

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40 interns + 2 days = A Rewarding B.L.U.E. Experience

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The entire 2019 B.L.U.E. Program cohort volunteered together at McKinstry’s land adoption site, Crystal Springs Park

Editor’s Note: For his second blog post of the summer, Aidan chose to recap “The B.L.U.E. Experience”—a two-day program from June 25-26 that brought all our interns to Seattle to learn about McKinstry and bond with each other. Click here to read Aidan’s first blog post introducing himself.

An event called The B.L.U.E Experience is sure to stir up some curiosity in those attending. We’ve all been to events that didn’t meet expectations, but I’m happy to say that The B.L.U.E. Experience fully lived up to the intrigue its name evoked!

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Facility improvements deliver big benefits for Larson Ice Center

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There are more than 4,000 municipal and community ice arenas currently operating across the U.S. These ice arenas offer communities a healthy way to connect and stay active. Maintaining ice arenas facilities can be challenging and improving them can be costly. Additionally, the energy and operational costs needed to run ice arenas continues to increase year after year.

Ice arenas are complex facilities. To provide a quality ice surface, they must maintain proper ice temperature with appropriate amounts of humidity, all while maintaining a comfortable environment for the athletes, coaches, spectators, facility managers and the members of the community who attend events at the facility.

McKinstry partners with ice arenas and recreational facilities across the country to develop and implement solutions to address deferred maintenance items and make improvements to the facility with the goal of reducing energy and operational spend. We are passionate about the game and committed to finding ways to make hockey and other ice activities affordable for everyone.

McKinstry works hard to drive down ice arena operating costs. Our Midwest team, in particular, grew up on the ice as players, coaches and on-ice officials at the high school, collegiate and professional level. All of us have been hockey parents and one of our teammates is a current member of the off-ice officiating staff for the NHL. My colleague Susie MacMillan operated an ice arena before joining McKinstry. That passion for hockey and ice arenas is why the Brookings City Council in South Dakota trusted McKinstry to be their partner for the Larson Ice Center renovation project.

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Google’s ambitious air quality study raises even more questions than it answers

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TJ Mulqueen is a commissioning lead at McKinstry.

Google recently shared its air quality information with scientists from its Project Air View initiative in hopes to track pollution around the world.

Having conducted this project since 2012, Google has a treasure trove of data which will shed light on the extent and degree of air pollution in certain locales. While this is a good step in understanding outdoor air pollution, there hasn’t been as much effort in understanding indoor air pollution. This is alarming since we spend most of our time indoors.

Read the rest of TJ’s article at GritDaily

Aidan Korper: Getting to know me & my journey to McKinstry’s B.L.U.E. Program

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My name is Aidan Korper and I’m working as a project engineering intern on McKinstry’s Fire Protection team at the Portland, Ore. office. I’m a rising junior at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, studying construction management.

Aidan Korper.

When I started my search for a summer internship, I focused my search in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve always heard such great things about the area, from its vast forests to explore and opportunities for fun on two wheels to its unique culture and down-to-earth people (I’ve confirmed these things are true!). I figured if I could make it work logistically, I would drive out to the west coast for a summer of learning and exploring!

Through some research and connections I made through school and travels during spring semester, I had narrowed my search to a few companies I felt were on the forefront of the construction industry. It seemed like a long shot but with some hard work, good timing, and a whole lotta’ luck, I was able to secure an internship position with one of the top companies on my list—McKinstry! With McKinstry’s passion for sustainable building/design and drive to think beyond the traditional construction process, I knew there was truly no better program and group of people I could learn from.

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Bunji McLeod: Getting to know me & my journey to McKinstry’s B.L.U.E. Program

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So, first things first, my legal name is not Bunji. I was born in Kagoshima, Japan, on the south end of the island Kyushu. Originally, my mother wanted to give me the name Benjamin. However, I’ve been told “benjo” is Japanese slang for toilet, which must have been why I soon was born—”legally”—as Jason Shang McLeod.

Bunji McLeod.

That name didn’t last long. In the operating room, my dad mentioned that the umbilical cord for a baby is like a bungee cord with a little human attached to the end. My mom didn’t think it was as funny as he did, but I quickly became baby Bunji—much like the name Benji (i.e. Benjamin), but with a little extra spring of uniqueness in it. It has no meaning in Japanese, no cultural rooting in my Taiwanese ethnicity, and no daredevil bungee jump that deemed me worthy of such a nickname. It’s simply my name now.  

Three years after jumping into this world, I moved to Bellingham, Wash., where I lived underneath the smells of damp shade and never-ending greenery. There, I took two classes with a high school teacher who has shaped my college experience more than any other: Mr. Doud. The local legend of a physics teacher could inspire us to tackle any mathematical challenge with passionate fervor, using only a pen, whiteboard and cheesy one-liners developed over decades of classes. Because of him, I am here now in Spokane going into my fourth year of mechanical engineering and working at McKinstry.

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Jason Orr: Getting to know me & my journey to McKinstry’s B.L.U.E. Program

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When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.

Paulo Coelho
Jason Orr.

As an avid reader, I believe people always have something to share. To accomplish anything in life requires shared wisdom across communities and the selflessness of those who are knowledgeable. Let me introduce myself.

My name is Jason Orr, and I am going into my final year studying Mechanical Engineering at Gonzaga University. Before starting my freshman year, the Engineering program at Gonzaga seemed like a great fit. Solving problems was always fun and working hands-on felt more engaging. As I continued through my initial semesters, there was an internal conversation with the malice of a 2016 Presidential debate happening in my mind. Is this what I want to do? Do I love this? Questions led to discontinuity and confusion. The only thing I knew was I wanted to have an impact.

We were all made by the same hand, and we have the same soul.

Paulo Coelho

The curriculum was undeniably tough: calculus, statics, physics. There was no point in asking what the “hard” classes were because there were multiple every semester. Eventually, I would ask a professor for his perspective and opinion. He offered me sound advice and incredible wisdom on how to persevere your way to excellence as an individual and an engineer.

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Clarissa Ferreira: Getting to know me & my journey to McKinstry’s B.L.U.E. Program

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My name is Clarissa Ferreira and I am a construction intern in the Phoenix office. I enjoy outside activities like hiking and off-roading—when the Arizona heat permits. I love country music, traveling and am a huge foodie. Usually—on the weekends—I can be found out at a food truck festival, sightseeing in a new city, or hanging out with my family.

Clarissa Ferreira.

I started out as an architecture and construction management dual major at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and it didn’t take me long to realize I don’t think like an architect. I just didn’t find as much passion for being artistic and creative as I’d originally thought I would. I ended up moving back to my native Arizona and taking some time off to be with my family. I am currently a senior and a construction management major at Arizona State University (ASU).

I come to McKinstry with more than six years of experience in the construction field. Before transferring to ASU, I worked as an administrative assistant (in the engineering and work management departments) and participated in “fire watch” during outages at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Tonopah, Ariz. Fire watch was a hands-on safety experience. Staff paired with welders and pipe-fitters to go out into the shutdown unit and monitor as workers made repairs to mitigate the chance of fire.

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