This week marks National Surveyors Week! Our 25 registered surveyors and technicians are a hardy bunch and have braved conditions ranging from freezing, sweltering, wet, muddy, buggy, smelly, claustrophobic, and itchy all in the name of accurate surveys and maps. This week we salute them!

This week is also about promoting the profession and educating others. With that in mind, we asked our surveyors about some of their favorite experiences.

1. how Do You Explain to Someone (who Knows Nothing About Survey) What It Is that You Do?

“We stand behind a ‘camera’ and take pictures!! 😉 We do such a multitude of things its often hard to describe, but mostly we give engineers a basis to begin their design by locating terrain and physical features and producing a drawing or map that they use to design with. As one of my former colleagues said “if it wasn’t for all the math and walking it would be pretty good job!” – Adam C.

“If I am talking to one of my friends about my job, I tell them I draw up plans of an area we surveyed or gather information of the owners of that lands we are doing work on.” – Adam I.

2. What Is the Weirdest Thing You Have Ever Surveyed/Scanned?

“I spent a lot of time at Rumpke landfill doing a multitude of surveying activities. Many times, they had us getting the height of the trash to make sure they weren’t going over the height allowed by the county. Other times they had us surveying existing and proposed gas lines as they would sell off the gas being produced underneath the trash.” – Randy

“While working for a company as a CO-OP, we had to survey a lime bed field with a ‘sled’ that had three prisms on it, which two people pulled back and forth along the bed.” – Adam I.

“We scanned the inside of a manhole (just last week) by lowering the scanner down the hole using a winch/tripod system that was designed and made by a couple of our former employees. I also staked grave markers at a cemetery one time, which was a little weird.” – Adam C.

3. What Is the Coolest Project You Have Ever Done?

“The coolest project that I worked on would have to be working on the Rockies Express Pipeline for three months in the field and about a month in the office.” – Adam I.

“While everything we do is ‘cool’, I remember on one occasion working in the field I had to get on a boat that took me out to a barge in the middle of the Ohio River. Once on the barge, I climbed up on the top of a pylon they had attached to a crane. The crane swung me out over the water and I had to have our instrument man on the shore line me up with where the pier needed to go so they could drive it into the bottom of the Ohio. These series of piers were being set for a conveyor system to load coal from the shore directly onto the barges.” – Randy

“I’m not sure what the ‘coolest’ would be but, I enjoy working on higher profile projects that require special attention to detail or creative solutions (Fountain Square, Dunnhumby, Cincinnati Premium Outlets come to mind – I’m sure there are others)” – Adam C.

4. What Is Your Favorite Part About Your Job?

“I guess it’s working with our surveying staff. We have a great group of surveyors who are tremendously talented and experienced, and have great attitudes. They care deeply about how we do things, and about TKG, which makes my job a whole lot easier! It’s cool to be able to see projects completed and know that you played a part in the process of building the project.” – Adam C.

“My favorite part of my job would be the variety of work that I could be doing from day to day.  One day in might be doing research at the courthouse or I could be mapping up a topographic survey for a large site.” – Adam I.

“I like that every job brings different challenges to think about and find solutions too.” – Randy

5. What Have You Done to Educate Students or Others About the Profession?

“I spent four years teaching survey calculations at Cincinnati State. I also worked with a local Boy Scout troop on survey equipment and maps.” – Randy

“I’ve worked with students at Cincinnati State conducting mock interviews to help them with job and co-op searches.” – Adam C.

6. Have You Participated in Any Volunteer Work Related to Survey?

“While not 100 percent survey related, but rather more engineering, I have been involved in a several construction projects in Guatemala, Ecuador, and Peru (houses, churches, and schools).” – Randy

“We have completed several Boundary/Topographic and plot plan projects for Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity over the past several years. They are fairly “standard” surveying projects that we do pro bono to help out the greater community.” – Adam C.

Here at Kleingers, we love to talk about engineering.

“It sounds a little corny, but I do believe I was born to be a civil engineer,” our Vice President of Operations Steve Korte recently said.

But while many of our engineers learned their passion from their dads or someone influential in their lives, we know not every kid has that opportunity—which is why our second passion is sharing our zeal for the profession.

As Engineering Week comes to a close, we are celebrating sharing engineering with the next generation.

“So many children today have no idea what we do, what an engineer looks like, what it takes to be an engineer.  They have no idea that to build anything, you need an engineer.  The sidewalk they walk on, the school they sit in, the roads they bike on, that’s all because of an engineer,” Director of Engineering Tim Casto said. “I hope maybe, just maybe, there is that one kid out in the room that sees these props, looks at our plans, and thinks maybe I could do that.”

For the past three years, Jim Kleingers and Ameen Bakare have participated in a program through the Dayton Chamber Minority Business Partnership to introduce engineering design, architecture, and construction to students at Thurgood Marshall High School.

According to Ameen, the program helps kids understand how each of the individual professions works together to build new construction. As part of the program, kids are broken into teams and take on the role of surveyor, architect, landscape architect, or program manager. The kids work together on a deadline to figure out the information needed from a survey, building placement, how to arrange a site, and how to coordinate a project.

Although the program is brief, Ameen said he hopes it gives kids a chance to think about engineering as a future profession and put a face to the profession.

“A lot of the kids that are part of Thurgood Marshall… they don’t really see a lot of engineers and whether it is because I am a little younger or a man of color, it is good to see another face they can relate to,” Ameen said.

The transportation group at Kleingers is working to create a similar program with Safe Routes to Schools and Steve recently began speaking at his former junior high school, which is now a middle school, through the Cincinnati Engineering Enhanced Mathematics and Science Partnership at the University of Cincinnati.

“It is a little selfish, but it is hard finding civil engineers,” Steve said. “But really I’m trying to help younger kids learn about a potential career. I hope they will take classes and pursue engineering in general.”

Steve said as part of the program he helped kids layout an island, which included making decisions about where everything should go. They also talked in class about what is important in a roundabout.

Additionally, Jim and Tim have facilitated the Webelos Cub Scout activity to several Cub Scout Packs in Butler County, introducing Webelos to engineering. Among other activities, kids learn about the types of bridges and draw examples of them, work with ropes and pulleys, learn about surveying and measuring a property line, and visiting a construction site.

Tim said he particularly enjoys showing kids props—including pavement cores—and he is currently looking for ways to tie in Minecraft into educational programs.

“Most kids today have played with the program and they are in essence creating a model of a “site”, something we do as engineers.  In the game, they create houses, roads, trails, tunnels, waterways, beaches—stuff that engineers do every day. You can show a surface model in AutoCAD to a kid and they don’t get it, but if you relate those lines to the building blocks to Minecraft, that’s an “aha” moment for them,” Tim said.

Dolls aren’t for every girl.

When people ask Sarah, one of our transportation engineers, about girls in engineering, she always thinks of a picture from her childhood where she is holding a toy truck.

Sarah knew from a young age what her passions were, but according to Discover Engineering, studies show that the average girl doesn’t know what engineering is, thinks engineers need to be exceptional at math and science and believes engineering is difficult and challenging.

At The Kleingers Group, we recognize that women bring another perspective to engineering and can help change the world with their creative ideas.

In recognition of Girl Day during Engineering Week, The Kleingers Group talked to some of our female engineers about some of the traits that make a good engineer and why the career can be rewarding.

Can you think of scenarios at work where your curiosity has helped you excel?

Asking good questions has helped me learn the most about engineering (technical aspects) as well as the client relations aspects.  It’s always better to ask questions and learn rather than to assume or sit and stew about something on your own. – Jennifer

When I design roads and sidewalks I try to imagine myself using them.  Where is it best to cross the street?  Where will I want to see signs to help me navigate the streets while I’m driving?  If there is a hill or curve in the road, will I have enough time to stop if something is on the other side? – Sarah

As a new engineer, there is so much I still have to learn.  I get to work with and learn so many things from engineers who are true experts in their field with a deep understanding of the problems I’m faced with.  The world of engineering is filled with so many different challenges though, that even the seasoned engineers see new issues all the time.  While I learn new things and start to master the basics, these seasoned professionals are also constantly expanding their knowledge base.  It makes me excited to work in a field that is always evolving and changing! – Katrina

How do you use creativity every day?

There is a ton of room for creativity and problem solving in my work every day.  I get to look at problems with an endless number of solutions and find the best possible way to solve them.  Sometimes the best solution is a tried and true method, but more often, a creative solution turns out to be the most effective way to tackle the issue. – Katrina

Projects are like puzzles and no two are alike.  Each project contains the same major pieces, but they each fit together differently.  Sometimes getting the puzzle pieces to fit together requires us to be creative and think outside of the box to find the solution.  – Megan

Engineering is all about solving problems—technical or other. I use creativity daily in setting project priorities and dealing with the multiple personalities involved in a design, from clients to internal staff to reviewing agencies.  – Jennifer

How do you use teamwork inside and outside of the firm?

Teamwork is woven throughout everything I do daily.  A project involves many, many people from the client to the design professional to the review agency.  We are one team working toward a common goal.  An atmosphere of collaboration is imperative to developing a quality product.  We use other team members to help create the deliverable and also check each others work. – Jennifer

When designing roads, I have to think about what’s under them, not just what I can see.  I need the help of people at the utility companies to make sure I don’t interfere with their pipes running underground, or to figure out the best place to relocate their pipes, if necessary. – Sarah

Every day I work with members of my team in the office to produce drawings as efficiently as possible.  Every member of my team has different strengths: some are best at organization, some are best at teaching, and some are best at designing.  By working together with a shared sense of purpose, we develop our individual skills by learning from each other to ensure the quality of the final product is the best it can be. Site design is only one piece of the larger puzzle of overall site development.  As a site engineer, I work with many other people—including architects, engineers, and developers—outside the firm to accomplish the overall goal of building something great.  While designing the site, I have to keep in mind the implications my design has on the other team members and their pieces of the puzzle.  Every member of the team works together to make sure all of our designs coordinate and we deliver a product our clients are excited about. – Katrina

In what ways do you solve problems in your field of work?

Being able to be organized and effectively assess priorities is a daily problem solving exercise for me.  One phone call can change the entire plan for the day and you need to manage that issue while not adversely impacting others. – Jennifer

We solve problems each and every day whether we realize it or not.  Today we may solve the problem of balancing earthwork on a site, tomorrow it may be fixing a drainage issue. – Megan

In your everyday work, how do you help others?

Engineering by definition helps others as we are service providers.  We create the built environment for the public to enjoy.  We protect public safety.  We assist clients in financial gains. – Jennifer

I help others by creating safer driving conditions and safer places to walk and ride bikes. – Sarah

Happy Engineer’s Week! This week we celebrate engineers and what they mean to the community. Here at Kleingers, we pride ourselves on helping to build better communities and we believe our engineers play a big part in that. This week is also about increasing the public dialogue about the need for engineers. With that in mind, we asked our team a few questions. The responses range from serious to sarcastic, but all of our engineers are clearly passionate about their work! Below are some of our favorite:

Who inspired you to be a civil engineer?

My high school math teacher who told me that since I was good at math and science, I should be an engineer. I wasn’t even sure what that meant! – Jennifer

I don’t know if there is specifically one individual who wholly inspired me, but I grew up in a new subdivision and I often had the chance to see civil engineering in action. What kid doesn’t like watching bulldozers, concrete trucks and pavers doing their thing? My dad was a surveyor in his “first career” so that definitely had an impact on my career choice as well.  – Steve

Oooh that’s a toughy. Inspiration comes in many forms…I guess if I had to pick just one person it would be Justin Bieber, but it’s really neck and neck with Miley Cyrus….no Bieber….definitely Bieber – Greg

Legos of course! I love building stuff! – Michael

Why does the world need engineers?

Engineers provide practical, cost effective solutions to complicated problems. – Michael

To enable it to function. – Mike

To keep some black and white in the world and help everyone avoid all of those pretty, bright colors. – Steve

Engineers are imperative to designing our built environment.  Without engineers, we would have an empty world with no roads, buildings, utilities, etc. – Jennifer

Almost everything we use, wear and eat has been enhanced at some level by an engineer.  Engineers have an ability to analyze a problem and offer/design solutions. – Nick

What do you love most about being an engineer?

The process of understanding a client/owner’s goals and dreams, and helping it become a reality….seeing  a project grow from infancy to the final product and watching people enjoy and use the space in the end.  – Steve

I love finding efficient solutions to problems that’s backed up by math! – Michael

Being creative. – Mike

The opportunity to solve problems and make a difference. – Nick

The celebrity status, I know a lot of engineers get tired of it, you know with all the gossip and such but I actually welcome the busy schedule, well with all the interviews, and late show appearances, the amazing money and exotic locations I get to travel too…it’s really hard to complain. – Greg

I love that you can see your finished product being constructed.  I like the interaction with people (both internal team members and clients) and helping them bring their projects to fruition. – Jennifer

What contributions do engineers make to society?

Engineers designed the infrastructure that makes everyday life possible.  From water supplies, to sewage systems, roadways, the electrical power grid, and more – none of those modern conveniences would be possible without many engineers. – Michael

They provide practical solutions to everyday problems. – Mike

Too many to list….but a lot of it we all take for granted. Transportation, water and sewer are big ones off the top of my head. Have you ever heard the saying that “engineers save more lives than doctors”? Engineers do so with their proactive planning.  – Steve

Well I think it’s safe to say that nobody really knows. personally I don’t even know why we need civil engineers….I think generally as a people we have all become pretty civil to one another. – Greg

We assist in shaping the world as we see it including advances in sustainability and responsible development. – Jennifer

Civil engineers use their professional knowledge and skills to aid in the advancement and betterment of human welfare. – Nick

What is it like to work with a civil engineer?

It is refreshing to interview civil engineers and hear the repeated stories about their passion for the profession, their pride in driving by built projects and pointing them out to their families…to be a part of building communities. Engineers are passionate about what they do! – Nancy