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

July 16, 2020 by Leave a Comment

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

Hello fellow interns, McKinstry employees, and random people who stumbled along this blog by chance!

My name is Michael Kinahan, and I am a first-year intern in the Major’s Fire Protection Department. This fall, I will be a Junior at Washington State University entering my first year in the Construction Management Program. My goal in writing for the Blue Blog this summer is to give past, present, and future interns a glance into my internship at McKinstry during these chaotic and unprecedented times.

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Filed Under: B.L.U.E. Blog, Home Tagged With: B.L.U.E., B.L.U.E. Blog, Fire Protection, Seattle, The B.L.U.E. Experience

Three takeaways from my summer at McKinstry

August 23, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Three takeaways from my summer at McKinstry
Aidan Korper, center, with his colleagues on McKinstry’s Fire Protection team in Portland.

As I reflect on my summer here at McKinstry, I’m blown away at what I’ve learned. Not only have I expanded my knowledge of the construction industry, I’ve grown as a human being. Distilling all of that growth into three main takeaways is difficult, but it helps me mentally digest what I’ve learned in the past 12 weeks.

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Filed Under: B.L.U.E. Blog, Home Tagged With: B.L.U.E., B.L.U.E. Blog, Data, Fire Protection, Interns, Internships, Oregon, Organization, Portland

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

June 25, 2019 by 1 Comment

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

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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Filed Under: B.L.U.E. Blog, Home Tagged With: B.L.U.E., B.L.U.E. Blog, Career Development, Construction Management, Fire Protection, Interns, Internships, Oregon, Portland, Project Engineering, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Steve Leonard grows McKinstry’s fire protection capabilities across the Pacific Northwest

December 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Steve Leonard grows McKinstry’s fire protection capabilities across the Pacific Northwest

steveleonardpic

Back in the late 1980s, Steve Leonard was living in Southern California and thought he wanted to work for a fire department, maybe as a firefighter. When a friend asked if he would consider working in fire protection design, it changed Steve’s direction and sent him off on a 30-year journey into the world of fire protection.

“No one is born with a passion for sprinklers or alarms, it’s usually a series of twists and turns that bring people into the fire protection industry,” Steve explained. “I didn’t think about fire protection when I was a kid, but I’m glad that my career path led me into this field.”

At McKinstry, we’ve offered fire protection services for decades because identifying and installing the right protection system to prevent or reduce fire damage is fundamental to every project we undertake. McKinstry has built a national reputation for designing and installing fire protection systems for a wide variety of venues—from office, retail, and hotel buildings to stadiums, laboratories, and museums. Owners and designers come to McKinstry for our expertise on systems, costs, and knowledge of all current fire codes and compliance standards for the National Fire Protection Association.

Steve’s fire protection path has been extremely unique at McKinstry. Since joining the company in 2010, he’s lived and worked in three of McKinstry’s major Pacific Northwest offices—Portland, Spokane and Seattle.

“I sometimes joke that I’ve completed the trifecta,” Steve said. “Working in three of our Pacific Northwest offices has been a pleasure, and they all have a different atmosphere that’s still connected by the common McKinstry culture.”

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Filed Under: Home, Occupants & Operators Tagged With: Career Development, Fire Protection, Internal Mobility, Pacific Northwest, Portland, Seattle, Spokane, Sprinklers

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  • How COVID-19 changed my Internship: Nolan Dahl

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