^{February Issue, 2008, Vol 10}

In a recent interview with Jennifer Jewers, E.I.T., Mechanical Designer, we got the opportunity to learn about the company she works for, Henderson Engineers, Inc. (HEI), her life as an engineer, and some insight into the trends happening in her industry. Jennifer earned a B.S. in Engineering with a Mechanical Emphasis from Texas Christian University, and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and currently resides in Kansas.

Q: Tell us about Henderson Engineers, Inc. Describe the industry and the different types of engineers they employ.

Henderson Engineers, Inc. provides numerous design services through its headquarters in Kansas City, as well as Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, Tampa, Bentonville, and Las Vegas. Services include mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering, and three specialty divisions: FireDynamics (fire protection and code consulting), Impact Illumination (architectural lighting), and Henderson Technology Group (comprehensive technology design).

Henderson provides engineering services to a wide variety of markets including:

Assisted Living	Grocery	Recreation
Car Dealership	Healthcare	Religious
Corporate	Historic / Renovation	Restaurant
Criminal Justice	Hospitality	Retail
Education	Housing	Sports
Entertainment	Laboratory	Sustainable
Financial	Mixed Use	Telecommunications
Government	Parking

Licensed in all 50 states, Henderson is comprised of over 400 employees including over 100 Licensed Engineers and over 50 LEED® Accredited Professionals.

Q: Is your company Green?
Driven by LEED® Accredited Owners, Henderson Engineers’ commitment to sustainable design is demonstrated by the following notable achievements:

• Employment of over 50 LEED® Accredited Professionals
  Henderson encourages employees to become LEED® Accredited through its LEED® Accreditation Program. Employees are provided with study materials and coursework necessary for passing the rigorous exam; upon completion and accreditation employees are reimbursed for the exam fees. 
  
  
• National, regional, and local U.S. Green Building Council involvement
  Several LEED® AP Henderson employees have spoken at numerous local and regional events advocating and educating clients and Owners on the benefits of sustainable design. Two employees currently serve as chairmen for their local USGBC chapters. 
  
  
• Internal Henderson Engineers LEED® Research and Education Committee
  An active committee of 30-plus individuals committed to researching and implementing “green design” strategies from an M/E/P perspective. 
  
  
• Building Design & Construction
  Henderson Engineers was ranked 29th on BD&C's Top 50 Building Team of LEED® Accredited Professionals. 
  
  
• The Henderson Earth Initiative
  Led by an internal Sustainable Steering Committee who organizes, directs, and master plans internal and external sustainable concepts, the Sustainable Steering Committee leads three sub-committees known as the Three P’s:
  
  
  1. Professional - incorporates green standards, material, major equipment and systems into the design and specifications for new or existing building projects.
  2. Personal - advocates changes that promote individual commitment though core beliefs.
  3. Process - is responsible for internal business practices - recycling program, the purchase of sustainable office supplies and products, and sustainable building maintenance and materials.
     

Q: In what ways does your company connect with its local and global community?
Henderson is committed to community stewardship and outreach through its involvement in:

• The ACE Mentor Program - a national after-school program for high school juniors and seniors that introduces architecture, construction and engineering careers. Henderson will host a total of 10 two-hour sessions throughout the program, each carefully designed to inform the students about the various aspects of an engineering career.
  
  
• The Olathe School District’s 21st Century Program - Henderson will participate in a pre-professional technical internship allowing students to explore the integrated career fields of engineering, architecture and construction through hands on learning and observation. 
  
  
• Helping You Prosper in Engineering, or HYPE - Henderson’s internal HYPE group was founded in 2006 with the mission to reach out and promote engineering as a career to a diverse culture within its surrounding communities. For the past two years, HYPE has initiated a backpack drive for two Kansas City, MO elementary schools. Henderson employees delivered the backpacks which were filled with school supplies and gift cards and participated in a question and answer session about engineering with the students.
  

Q: What’s your role at your company? What does a typical day look like?
I am an engineer for the A-Team at HEI, whose primary focus is the design of Wal-Mart stores.  My area of expertise is refrigeration design.  At HEI, I am responsible for maintaining the refrigeration design for four Wal-Mart prototypes used by multiple consulting firms, and ensuring that those prototypes are updated with each month’s design initiatives.  I also work with the Senior Refrigeration Engineer in the Prototype and New Format Development group at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and consultants from across the country as part of a Refrigeration Collective – the Collective provides resources for new design development, technology identification, and application support.

No two days are ever the same, but many days involve internal and external project team meetings, conference calls, and design work for new stores and prototypes using AutoCAD.  Several times per week, I also coordinate updates to the refrigeration rack systems with the refrigeration rack manufacturer.

Q: Walk us through some of your past projects or one that really pulled you outside your comfort-zone and you grew from the experience. Describe any challenges you may have incurred, how you rose above and lessons learned.
It’s actually not a past project, but a current one.  Wal-Mart is changing the way refrigeration design for their stores is done, and while it’s exciting, it’s also extremely challenging for me.  As the primary design responsibilities shift more toward consultants, a set of design tools and aids have to be developed to ensure that refrigeration designs are consistent among all of the consulting firms.  In helping to coordinate the firms working on the design, I’ve gotten some hands-on budget and manpower prediction training.  It’s also been challenging to work on the design tool assigned to HEI.  Aspects of the design are familiar, but parts are also new, so I’m spending time researching the theory behind the equations we’re using, and making sure the assumptions we’re using are valid and applicable to all the situations where we want to apply them.  This project probably won’t be completed before the end of the year, so I know more challenges are in store, but it’ll be fun to go through the process, and to see how much my technical expertise has grown when it’s all said and done.

Q: What are the trends on the forefront in your industry?
The key trend is energy efficiency.  There is a large push for commercial buildings to become more energy efficient.  With each new technological advancement, this means improving heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration equipment efficiencies, using skylights and other energy-efficient lighting applications, and enhancing building system designs.  For example, right now commercial stores are being designed and built that tie together the HVAC and refrigeration systems.  This allows the heat in the refrigeration system to be transferred to the HVAC system, and then used to help heat the building during the winter.  In the past, this heat load would have been thrown away and not used, but now we’re able to conserve it for building use during colder months.  We’ll continue to see this trend in the future as new buildings are designed with LEED® accreditation in mind, and companies look to decrease their carbon footprints.

Q: How did you make the decision to accept your current job?
I had been employed at my first job out of college for about two years when I interviewed and subsequently received an offer to go work at HEI.  I was definitely interested in moving back to Kansas to be close to my family again, and looking for a new challenge.  HEI’s refrigeration group was brand new when I started – actually, I was the first person in this group, and (still am a group of one as I like to joke) – and while it was a big decision to start with something new, everyone here has been fantastic about helping me with the resources I need as we take on greater refrigeration design roles.  The different corporate cultures also played a role in my decision. A friend of a friend worked at HEI, and everything she had to say about the company was positive; when I interviewed, I saw how great the atmosphere was first-hand, and I wanted to be a part of that environment. The atmosphere is fast-paced, but also laid-back and extremely employee-friendly.  I used to joke in college that my dream job involved thermodynamics and wearing flip flops to work, and that’s not a dream anymore.  I spent most of the summer in flip flops thanks to HEI’s casual attire policy.  HEI’s flex time is also another added bonus of my job – the starting and ending hours of the day are flexible, and they allow you to flex your time if you’re taking a day off. I also love how dedicated to the environment HEI is – they don’t just design energy efficient buildings here, they also recycle, send sustainable tips to their employees, encourage carpooling, and much more. 

Q: What are the considerations (e.g. pros and cons) one should keep in mind when deciding whether to work in your industry?
Working in the building industry is very different than traditional, manufacturing engineering jobs.  If you like to do hands on projects every day, then building design probably isn’t for you.  However, if you like to design systems, and/or like thermodynamics, heat transfer, and/or fluid flow, then building design might be for you.  To me, designing refrigeration systems is almost like doing puzzles – there are so many different pieces that have to fit together into a larger picture, and as the design engineer, you get to create that final puzzle layout.

In Jennifer’s spare time, she Chairs the ASME Committee on Early Career Development, and sits on other high profile ASME Committees, Task-Force groups and Boards advocating for early career engineers.