The people behind
everything on this site.
None of the work on this site happened alone. These are the teams, mentors, and friends who pulled me into the craft, taught me what good work looks like, and stuck around for the long nights.
Concrete Canoe
2021 — 2024
Three years with the same core group. We started as the underclassmen the older team didn't quite know what to do with, and ended as the ones running the lab keys and the schedule.
What I remember most isn't the placements — it's the 11 PM mix tests, the canoe finally floating, and the friends who became roommates because nobody else understood why this mattered.
- 01The faculty advisor never told us what to do. He'd ask one question, walk away, and let us figure it out. That's how we actually learned.
- 02Every mix that worked started as a mix that didn't. We kept a binder, and the binder is the reason we got better.
- 03By year three, the work was less about the canoe and more about teaching the people behind us how to take it over.
Steel Bridge
2022 — 2023
Steel Bridge taught me that leadership isn't a title — it's whoever has the welding gloves on at 1 AM the day before. I learned to slow down and ask people what they needed instead of assuming.
The 2nd place finish was great. The thing I keep coming back to is the group photo we took at the shop the night we finally got a clean assembly run.
- 01The welding mentor's first lesson: if the bead is ugly, the fixturing is wrong. Don't blame the welder. That's aged into a life rule.
- 02Build time on the floor is decided by how clean the fixturing is, not by raw speed.
- 03Eleven practice builds before regionals. The QA checklist felt annoying for one day and then saved us at the competition.
Kiewit Field Crew
2023 — Now
My first real construction site. The crew adopted me — taught me how to read a job, when to ask, when to shut up and watch. Most of my growth this year happened in the trailer at lunch, not at a desk.
The trades are the ones who actually teach you. If you respect their craft and bring coffee occasionally, doors open. That's the lesson.
- 01Day three a senior engineer told me to be the one the foreman calls first when something's wrong. Everything I do on site is some version of working toward that.
- 02Field photos beat field notes. Date and location on every set.
- 03Pre-task plans catch most of what would have been an RFI later. The ten minutes is worth it.
To everyone
in these photos.
Engineering is a relationship business. The crews, mentors, and teammates here taught me more than any class or textbook — and most of what I'll carry forward is some version of what they showed me. If you're reading this and we worked together: thanks.