Day 5: Transportation, Safety & Fleet, and More Water/Wastewater!
It is Week 2 and this week I will focus on Transportation and Construction Management. I am ready to start the day off learning about Transportation, which I hear is a large part of what KCI does. Let's get started...
Counselor Connections
- There is a high demand for engineers across the board right now. Many young people are interested in working on computers or in robotics, but we still need the people who are willing to work with their hands in the field.
- Entry-level jobs can turn in to huge opportunities. You can rise to leadership positions if you are willing to take on challenges and work hard! Trades are a great way to get started!
- There are a lot of jobs in the water/wastewater field. Water/Wastewater Operators are in especially high demand right now. You can make a great living and you don't even need a college degree!
- Internships and summer jobs are great ways to get a feel for career would be a good fit for you.
Microsoft Teams Meeting with Bayne Smith, Transportation South Market Leader
Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from University of GA and GA Tech (3 + 2 year degree program)
20 years at KCI
I start my day with Bayne, a really nice southern gentleman
who is located in Greenville, South Carolina. Bayne explains that Transportation
is a huge part of KCI and it is organized into North, South, and Texas
Markets. Bayne is responsible for the
South market, which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.
Within each market, there is Design and Construction Management. Design is
anything relation to transportation infrastructure- including roadways,
bridges, pedestrian walkways, bike lanes, traffic lights, circles, etc. Part of
the company works on designing these structures. Many of these jobs involve civil
engineers, but some are CADD technicians. Bayne explained that there is a high
demand for engineers across the board and that there is need to make this job
more attractive for students because many students want to work at a desk on computers
or with robotics.
Construction Management occurs once the design is completed and
construction is ready to happen. I have learned that KCI doesn’t actually do the
construction itself for transportation, but they do have people that oversee
and manage the construction. Therefore, the owner is responsible for hiring their
own contractors (laborers, construction workers, electricians, plumbers, etc.),
and then KCI will help manage the project. Many of the individuals in
leadership have engineering degrees but there are also a lot of opportunities
that don’t involve 4 year degrees, such as inspectors, which I will learn about
later.
Bayne explained that a lot of their larger projects are with
Departments of Transportation, such as MDOT and DelDOT, but they also work with
municipalities (cities or towns). We depend so much on bridges, roads, and
sidewalks to get from place to place to I can see how important this
transportation work is. I’m excited to learn more about this area which is a
huge part of what KCI does!
How would you describe your job to a high school student in a few sentences?
I spend of lot of time understanding what
clients need in order to deliver a quality product. I deal with the business
side of the work.
What advice do you have
for a high school student?
“Try different things
and find something you really like doing, not something just for the money or
because your friends are doing it.” Have summer jobs. Talk to other people. Do
internships. Don’t discount the trades. You can get a really good education at
a good cost and you can always get a degree later. A lot of the most successful
people didn’t start with degrees.
Bachelor’s degree in History from Frostburg State University
36 years at KCI
Next I meet with Jim in
person and Jim has been here for 36 years so he has really seen this company evolve!
He is a really neat person to talk to and he reminds me a lot of my grandfather!
I enjoyed listening to Jim’s life story and career journey from wanting to be a
spy and work for the NSA to working as a Juvenile Counselor with inner city
youth to getting the highest score in the State of Maryland on a test for purchasing/supply
clerk, which led him to a career in purchasing and ultimately a job at KCI when
he moved from Cumberland to the Baltimore area.
Purchasing involves buying
all the materials needed for the engineers and other employees to do their job-
from expensive survey instruments to pens and paper. Jim said that the industry
has changed so much and everything is so easy to order through Staples and other
companies that the job isn’t as necessary these days. Therefore, his job has
really transitioned more into safety and fleet.
Safety is a huge part of
an engineering field to ensure that all employees follow safety protocols both
on and off the field in order to prevent injury to themselves and others. Jim
played a huge role in creating the safety manual for the company and also
getting certified to run a training program for the employees. What a huge and
important endeavor!
Jim also is responsible for
the 100+ company vehicles (fleet) that employees use to carry equipment and do
their jobs out in the field. He wears a lot of other hats, including managing
the KCI facility itself, building security, FedEx Packages, and archiving and
maintaining records. He is certainly a jack of all trades!
I also enjoyed hearing
Jim talk about the difference between the Baby Boomers and Millennials and how
they work together. Baby Boomers have seen the world change and they have to
adapt to the new technology, while millennials want more money and flexibility.
Millennials also want things done quicker. It’s important to understand that
people of different generations think differently, and you have to learn how to
communicate and deal with different personalities. Jim is getting ready to
retire in just a few months and I am excited for him. He has done so much for
this company and has really risen to a great leader over the years.
How would you describe your job to a high school student in a few sentences?
I am part of an administrative group working for
engineers who are very technical. There is often a language barrier difference.
The key to working together is building relationships so technical folks can understand
the admin folks and vice versa. If you don’t, it won’t work well.
What advice do you have
for a high school student?
“You can go to college
or go to a tech school if college isn’t for you. If college isn’t for you, don’t
worry about it and don’t be afraid to do that.”
Bachelor’s Degree in Geology from Furman University
Master’s Degree in Hydrology from University of Georgia
2 years at KCI
My last meeting of the
day was a Microsoft Teams Meeting with Wes, another Southern gentleman who I
had the privilege of meeting. I believe he is based in Georgia. Wes was the Founder
and CEO of Halsey, McCormick, & Wallace, an Environmental Consulting Firm,
which was acquired by KCI in 2020. A lot of his team works with water and wastewater
treatment plans and ensuring that water is up to safe drinking waters standards
according to the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is very protective of human
health. Wes did a really great job at breaking down the water cycle and how water
and wastewater treatment plants worked with the diagram above.
There are many
interesting facts I learned from talking to Wes:
-I found it interested
how Wes talked about the dangers of certain contaminants and products, such as
Teflon and PFOS, which is very dangerous to humans and the environment and is
linked to cancer. He told me to watch a YouTube video about this called “The
Devil We Know,” which I would definitely like to view. Wes said these toxins
need to be eliminated and a big part of their job is making sure this happens.
Wes said contaminants are constantly being discovered and it’s their job to
protect citizens from them.
-I also found it
interesting that there is so much water in the world that wastewater is often
not recycled except in arid environments, such as California.
-The vast majority of public
water systems are from reservoirs and dams, many of which are manmade, except
for in certain places such as New York and Canada where natural lakes have been
formed from Glaciers from the Ice Age- how wild!
-He also talked about
the huge demand for water and wastewater operators. He said that you can start
out in the position making $40 to 50k per year and work your way up to
superintendent making $125-150k per year!
Wes showed me some pictures
of what water and waste/water treatment plants look like and which ones look
healthy and which ones don’t. I really appreciated all of the visuals he used
and everything he taught me! I feel like I was getting a water/wastewater 101
session! He would be a great teacher at the high school or college level!
How would you describe your job to a high school student in a few sentences?
“I help manage a team that delivers clean water
to your home and cleans up wastewater from your sewer system before it is
released back into the environment”
What advice do you have
for a high school student?
“Explore careers in the
water and wastewater industry.” You don’t necessarily need a college degree.
There are a lot of good paying jobs in this industry.
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