Engineering can be complex and daunting – but for Reid Middleton’s engineers, it is an opportunity to challenge ourselves on a daily basis. We are proud of being engineers because we have the opportunity to influence the future of engineering and to make our communities safer. Who doesn’t like solving a puzzle – especially when you get to create a solution where none was obvious?
Initial Interest in Engineering
Most of our engineers started having an interest in the engineering field from a young age, with a curiosity to understand how things work and how they go together. Some began building their first projects with Legos®, while others became interested because of family and friends who were engineers and displayed the world of possibilities engineering represented.
Favorite Projects
Each project is unique and interesting. New projects allow for blank paper creation, while remodels allow us to find a solution that may only work in one unique situation.
I most enjoy projects where I am involved from design through completion. It’s really nice to see projects evolve from concepts to completed facilities that improve the built environment.
Jason Kwiatkowski, PE
My favorite project is the K’esugi Ken Interpretive Center . It’s an exposed timber-framed structure that provides a space for artists to gather in the Alaskan wilderness. It’s not often that our structure gets to be featured so heavily by being exposed! Having the opportunity to be involved in a project where the fruits of our labor were so apparent was rewarding.
Garrett Baginski, EIT
UAA engineering and industry building and the UAA pedestrian bridge (was my favorite) – it was fun to work through some of the unique aspects of this project as well as creating a pathway to join two buildings I had worked on.
Why We Come to Work
Our engineers like working with a variety of materials. They like the versatility and flexibility that you get with steel, the lightness and infinite applications of composite materials, timber for its aesthetic properties, and concrete for its durability and longevity.
Structural steel is by far the most flexible material. You can cut, shape, weld, and fasten in so many different ways.
They also like the opportunity to solve problems with creativity and data. The chance to work with great people – both our staff and excellent partners throughout the engineering, construction, and architectural disciplines. Engineering pushes one to constantly learn. The pursuit of knowledge that is required of an engineer is something they enjoy.
I strive to impact my community through providing designs that are both safe and dependable.
I want to make the world a safer, more beautiful, more dependable place where we can live without fear of collapse or natural disasters.
I want to create buildings that are elegant, functional, and at the end of the day, people (clients and owners) are happy with the result.
Spread the Love
Above are the rewards we find as engineers daily. Join us. Encourage those kids around you disassembling the blender to “go for it,” figure out how it works, and then improve it. Find an opportunity to learn something new. Let your “inner engineer” out. Design something, build something, test something, and help make the world a better, safer place for us all!
After I’m long gone, structures I’ve designed will remain and be a legacy to my time here.
