Getting To Know: Nicole Demby (Golden, Colo.)

July 24, 2017 by Nicole Demby 1 Comment

Nicole Demby.

Hello! I’m Nicole Demby, and I’m a commissioning engineering intern and proud B.L.U.E. Program participant at McKinstry this summer. I’m from Cortez, Colo. and I’m a rising junior studying Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines—just five miles from McKinstry’s office in Golden, Colo.

Getting to intern at McKinstry this summer has been invaluable. My knowledge of HVAC systems and commissioning engineering (not to mention construction in general) has grown exponentially over the past few weeks.

[Read more…]

Getting To Know: Taylor Blevins (Portland)

July 24, 2017 by Taylor Blevins Leave a Comment

Taylor Blevins.

Hello! My name is Taylor Blevins, and I’m a B.L.U.E. Program intern in McKinstry’s Portland office. I first met with a McKinstry representative at the Oregon State University career fair and once I learned more about the company, I knew it would be a good fit for me.

I’m currently a rising senior at Oregon State studying Energy Systems Engineering. I also have some experience in BIM (Building Information Modeling) from my last internship with an architectural firm.

Ever since that internship ended, I’ve wanted to further-develop my skills in building systems and learn more about how buildings consume energy. As an engineer, it’s important that I learn how to help reduce that energy consumption.

Since McKinstry focuses on the mechanical systems of buildings and the energy aspect of buildings, I knew I was in the right place. So far my experience with McKinstry has been tremendous and I’m learning constantly.

[Read more…]

Getting To Know: Jessica Baumann (Madison, Wisc.)

July 24, 2017 by Jessica Baumann Leave a Comment

Jessica Baumann.

Hello! My name is Jessica Baumann and I’m a rising junior and Engineering Physics major at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville.

There are two things in that sentence that many people don’t know about. One is where Platteville is located. Platteville is in the southwest corner of Wisconsin, about 20 minutes away from the Wisconsin/Iowa border.

Secondly, most people don’t know anything about Engineering Physics. This major consists of curriculum taught to mechanical engineers, electrical engineers and physics majors. I enjoy this major because I feel like—once I’m out of college—it can lead to many opportunities, as I’ll have knowledge from several different areas of engineering.

[Read more…]

Getting To Know: Stephen Shin (Seattle)

July 24, 2017 by Stephen Shin Leave a Comment

Stephen Shin.

To say that my life after high school has been a little unconventional might be the most accurate way to describe it. I’ve attended two different universities at three different campuses and found work in three vastly different industries. It’s been fun, to say the least.

However, as I’m always reminded, the journey is what’s important and I need to constantly remind myself of that. Besides, I like how things are going so far. It’s led me to a pretty cool internship with McKinstry, so I can’t complain.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me introduce myself a little bit. My name is Stephen Shin and my official position title here is “Energy Design Engineering Intern” within the B.L.U.E. Program. I’m working under Brent Hecker (a senior mechanical design engineer at McKinstry) with a group of (as expected) energy design engineers.

[Read more…]

Getting To Know: Rylie Van Court (Seattle)

July 24, 2017 by Rylie Van Court Leave a Comment

Rylie Van Court.

As a rising senior at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., I knew 2017 was going to be my last year to intern before graduation in 2018. I also knew I wanted to try something different than what I’d experienced at my previous internship—which dealt with electrical circuit design.

I’m an Electrical Engineering major at Gonzaga and one of my most memorable recent classes was about power systems. We learned about what transformers, motors, and generators were and how they work. It was challenging and the technical reports were time-consuming, but I also found that I truly loved what we were learning.

[Read more…]

Getting to Know: Charles LeCuyer (Seattle)

July 24, 2017 by Charles LeCuyer Leave a Comment

Charles LeCuyer.

Hello! My name is Charles LeCuyer and I’m part of the B.L.U.E. Program at McKinstry’s headquarters in Seattle. I grew up here in Seattle and I’m currently attending The University of Washington’s School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

In late 2016, I started to look for a great place to work this summer. Luckily, I didn’t have to look far! McKinstry is so prevalent in Seattle, and I’d heard excellent things from who’s ever worked for the company. Now that I’ve been working here for a few weeks, I can definitely say that those people were right!

I started my work as a project engineering intern about a month ago, and I’m based at an active jobsite: the under-construction Roosevelt Light Rail Station in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood. I’m working with James Postma (senior project manager) and Katie Arendt (project engineer). They’ve helped show me the ropes, and I’m now handling a variety of tasks: Daily pre-task plans, safety walk inspections, man-hour reports, earned value tracking, and assisting with submittals.

[Read more…]

Everyday Innovation, Part 2

March 24, 2017 by Spark Staff Leave a Comment

Innovation is one of McKinstry’s core values.

Throughout 2016, McKinstry’s Western Washington Region organized an “Everyday Innovation” campaign that set out to share innovations and recognize innovators company-wide. We chose this name for the campaign because even smaller-scale or “everyday” innovations can make a big difference in improving the way we work.

All said, the organizers of the campaign have received more than 60 submissions that highlight an impressive array of creative thinking and have sparked discussions about innovation throughout McKinstry.

While the campaign is ongoing, we’ll be featuring nine of the very best innovation submissions we’ve received thus far in a series of Everyday Innovation posts. [Read more…]

How creative engineering can solve your structural riddles

August 12, 2015 by Spark Staff Leave a Comment

Despite the popular perception of pocket-protector-clad engineers spending their days crunching numbers and running calculations, McKinstry believes that engineering is both a science and an art.

[Read more…]

SPARK

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

Getting To Know: Nicole Demby (Golden, Colo.)

Getting To Know: Taylor Blevins (Portland)

Getting To Know: Jessica Baumann (Madison, Wisc.)

Getting To Know: Stephen Shin (Seattle)

Getting To Know: Rylie Van Court (Seattle)

Getting to Know: Charles LeCuyer (Seattle)

Everyday Innovation, Part 2

How creative engineering can solve your structural riddles

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