Congratulations to the following employee-owners who recently earned their Professional Engineer’s (PE) license, a major career milestone. Clara Dubow, Kendra Ely, Armando Mendoza, Will Smythe, and Tyler Van Meter share what inspired them to pursue a career in civil engineering, projects they’re working on, career goals, and advice for others working toward their PE license.
Clara Dubow | Puyallup, WA
Clara earned her degree in Civil Engineering with a focus in transportation and structures at Georgia Tech at the end of 2013 . She went straight into the transportation field and started on highway and ramp designs. She has gradually expanded her expertise and has since worked on safety programs, streetscape projects, traffic calming, illumination, many temporary traffic control plans, some stormwater, and recently roundabout design. Clara spent a year working as an inspector on the Tacoma Dome Trestle Replacement project as well. She now has a total of 7 years of experience.
What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
Definitely the civil aspect. It’s incredibly rewarding seeing a project from start to finish and see how many folks benefit from it. It also helps that I love using civil design software as well.
What is your next career goal now that you’ve earned your PE license? What is your ultimate career goal?
Next up on the docket is client relations and winning work! I’m both nervous and excited to see my growth over the next 5-10 years. I’m looking forward to participating in interviews and getting my feet wet with scopes and budgets. My ultimate career goal, as of now, would be something along the client steward path while managing projects and staff. One of my favorite non-billable aspects of work is mentoring and helping folks find their bread and butter, and learning both their strengths and weaknesses and providing support where I can- or finding who can provide that support. I aspire to get more opportunities to be a supervisor and take some EIT’s under my wing!
Which projects are you currently working on? What is your favorite project you’ve worked on?
I’m currently working on a few different projects. My main project since I started here at Parametrix has been 34th Ave South, a streetscape project for the City of SeaTac, WA with a ton of moving parts. Though it has had its moments of frustration, I’ve appreciated the challenging coordination of all of the disciplines involved (roadway, landscape, irrigation, water, stormwater, undergrounding utilities, and illumination) and have learned a ton.
I’m also working on Chinook Elementary in Auburn, WA on both the illumination and roundabout sides of the design. I’ve got another roundabout project in North Bend which is a 10%ish design of five roundabouts – could you tell I’ve been asking for roundabout experience?
My favorite project has been a Traffic Safety Improvement Study in which I analyzed over 30 different sites in Redmond, WA for safety improvements. I wrote memos for each intersection including crash analysis, safety improvement opportunities, high level plan view of what the improvements would look like, and high level cost estimates. It was nice getting to flex some creativity muscles as well as memo writing. The client respected my opinions and was very collaborative, which I appreciated immensely.
What advice do you have for others pursuing their PE license?
I spent a ton of time focusing on my timeline in my career. I felt obligated to get my PE as soon as possible and ended up taking it three times before passing. The first time I didn’t study at all and the second time I didn’t study nearly enough. I used work as the perfect excuse to not study and I regret wasting so much time and emotional energy avoiding studying and not just buckling down and getting it over with. The bar-none biggest thing that helped me overcome my lack of dedication to studying was paying for a course and making sure my focus was the exam over everything else. So my advice is to think about what helped you study and pass exams in college and follow that guide! Huge shoutout to the Tacoma office for letting me use their space to study while all the coffee shops were closed during COVID- it’s wild how terrible a home becomes when all you do is work and study in it.
My other advice is to reach out and get support. Failing twice shattered my confidence and started bleeding into my confidence in the industry altogether. I ended up reaching out to some folks for pep talks and they gave me the final boost I needed to take the exam for a third time and dedicate myself to passing. Special thanks to Paula Arnold, Cindy Clark, Rebecca Parker, and Dan Fisher for those hugely impactful conversations.
Kendra Ely | Bend, OR
Kendra has 5 years of experience, including two six-month internships through Oregon State University’s Civil Engineering Co-op Program (CECOP). In 2016, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. She specializes in transportation projects for local agencies. Her experience includes designing enhancements for urban arterials and corridors and nonmotorized and pedestrian traffic
What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
Inspiration didn’t come along for some time. In high school, I had a physics teacher that suggested engineering so I did that without really knowing what it meant. My first major at OSU was general engineering while I explored the options. Eventually, I found my groove in Civil Engineering. It wasn’t until my first CECOP internship that I found my interest in transportation and roadway design specifically. I always knew that I liked working with “things I could see” (i.e. bigger than atom sized, above ground, etc.) but it took quite a while to find a path.
What is your next career goal now that you’ve earned your PE license?
My next goal is to be more involved with the marketing and management side of projects. I want to understand the process of a project from the very beginning of procurement to the end of construction.
Which projects are you currently working on? What is your favorite project you’ve worked on?
I had a significant role in the design for the Newport Corridor Improvements Project for the City of Bend and 10th & Main Intersection improvements for the City of Prineville. Both projects are in construction now, which has been full of surprises. My favorite project is always the last one built!
What advice do you have for others pursuing their PE license?
Treat studying the same as work. We’re used to tracking our hours, so use that strength! Set a schedule and a target number of study hours then stick to it. I would shut myself in a conference room in the office so that I could recreate testing conditions and avoid distractions. Oh, and check the weather before test day!
Armando Mendoza | Puyallup, WA
Armando is a civil engineer with a structural engineering specialty. He has worked at Parametrix for 4 years. He earned both his graduate and undergraduate degree in Structural Engineering from Seattle University.
What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
I’ve had a lot of inspirations to get into engineering. In general though one experience comes to mind. In high school, I helped my uncle rebuild his roof for a remodel, so I was able to get hands on experience in structures. This led me to want to design homes and buildings. Though I am on the bridge side of structures, I am very happy that I had that experience because it led me to structural engineering.
What is your next career goal now that you’ve earned your PE license? What is your ultimate career goal?
My ongoing goal is to obviously get more structural engineering experience, but also in the vertical structures (i.e. buildings) side of structural engineering. Since I’ve been working at Parametrix, I’ve worked on many design and load rating bridge projects, which has been great. I would like to eventually expand my knowledge and experience in all aspects of structural engineering with building projects as well.
Also, I would like to gain expertise in seismic design – I took seismic analysis and design courses during my Master’s degree and it was one of my favorite (and most challenging) classes. My short term goal is to take the Structural Engineers (SE) exam next year.
Which projects are you currently working on? What is your favorite project you’ve worked on?
I am currently working on several projects, including:
– SR 305 Fish Passages for the Washington State Department of Transportation – designing the substructure for a single span bridge
– Scriber Creek Trail for the City of Lynnwood – designing a pedestrian boardwalk
– Ostrich Creek Culvert Replacement for the City of Bremerton – designing/drafting two single span bridges
– Mukilteo Pedestrian and Traffic Improvements for the Washington State Department of Transportation – bridge load rating
– East Lake Sammamish Trail for King County – designing a soldier pile wall
My favorite project was doing the preliminary design of the Crossroads bridge for the Southwest Corridor project for TriMet in Portland. Though it was only preliminary design, I got to step my foot into seismic analysis for multi-span bridges. I hope we get more projects like this so I can really delve into seismic analysis for final design work.
What advice do you have for others pursuing their PE license?
Take the PE exam as soon as you can. Roughly right out of college would be ideal because most subjects will still be fresh on your mind. If you can find a study buddy, that would very helpful. One piece of advice for the day of the exam is to bring a seat cushion. The hard plastic chairs are a pain to be in for 8 hours.
Will Smythe | Puyallup, WA
Will attended James Madison University in Virginia where he earned his undergraduate degree in engineering. He then went on to earn a Masters in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. He started with Parametrix just over 3 years ago in the water group working on a variety of water and wastewater engineering projects.
What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
Water, our most valuable resource. I wanted to engineer potable water systems for people and design wastewater treatment to help the environment.
What is your next career goal now that you’ve earned your PE license?
I would like to continue to develop my design skillset and knowledge and develop relationships with new clients.
Which projects are you currently working on? What is your favorite project you’ve worked on?
I am currently mostly working with Valley Water District and LOTT Clean Water Alliance. I have been in the field the past year aiding in the construction process for both clients, For Valley, I am managing the construction of a new 840,000 gallon reservoir and booster pump station for their largest system. For LOTT, I am helping to manage a process improvements upgrade to their plant that will increase treatment efficiency.
What advice do you have for others pursuing their PE license?
Get out in the field if you can, there is a lot of helpful knowledge to gain from seeing how things are built. Plus, you will get some hands on experience that will help with studying for the PE.
Tyler Van Meter | Bend, OR
Tyler started with Parametrix three years ago after completing his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Oregon Institute of Technology. While in school he completed two summer internships for general contractor Wildish in Eugene, OR. He also worked part time for SHN, working on rural wastewater projects in southern Oregon and northern California.
Tyler is one year of experience shy of officially receiving his PE license, but by passing the PE exam in April, he has met every other requirement.
What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
Growing up I loved learning history and noticed that some of the best ways to understand ancient people was to look at the remains of the things that they built. It has led me to think that we can tell a great deal about societies and cultures by how they go about building in their environment. This has inspired a lifelong passion for building all sorts of things and engineering has allowed me great satisfaction by taking part in how we build our environment.
What is your next career goal now that you’ve earned your PE license? What is your ultimate career goal?
The next short term goal I am considering is to obtain the Oregon Department of Transportation’s General Construction Inspector certificate.
My ultimate career goal is to be able to look back on a lifetime of work and say that I had a positive impact on my community – both for the people who are here now, and those to come.
Which projects are you currently working on? What is your favorite project you’ve worked on?
Being a member of the Bend Community Building team has afforded me opportunities to work on a range of projects, but my favorite is a project in Tumalo, Oregon. I have appreciated the opportunity to take on significant design responsibilities across multiple disciplines and to be responsible for coordination and decision making with our teaming partners.
What advice do you have for others pursuing their PE license?
If you are in a state that allows you to take the PE prior to having four years of experience, do it as early as you can. The test is not exactly similar to the fundamentals of engineering exam (FE), but there is a lot of good study material that will clue you in to the types of questions that will be asked.
For the AM breadth portion of the exam, take every possible reference material that you can. You just don’t know what topics might come up. Bring your books in a suitcase with wheels.
