“Creating the Future!” is this year’s theme for National Engineers Week (or E-week), which runs from February 19th-25th. E-Week was started by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951 to focus on increasing interest in engineering careers, and to encourage a diverse, well-educated workforce.

Westlake seeks to foster these values in our workplace culture. From our summer internship program, to providing curriculum support for development of a community college surveying and engineering degree program, we are proud to contribute our time and resources towards the NSPE’s vision.

We regularly volunteer for a variety of K-12 educational opportunities such as career day events and presentations to introduce students to engineering and surveying. We are also proud of the strong professional development “lunch and learn” program we offer staff (20+ presentations will be offered in 2023).

In accordance with this year’s E-Week theme, we’ve asked our civil engineers to weigh in on the future of the profession, and what they enjoy most about engineering.

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What would you say to young people looking to get into the field?

Jeff Hinton, PE (Senior Project Manager): Engineering is a rewarding field of work for those looking for a stimulating, dignified career path. It requires a broad technical base, people skills, and business acumen.

Natalie Chow, PE (Project Engineer): Learn AutoCAD and any other programs you can! Get your P.E. as soon as you can.

Scott Zelenka, PE (Project Engineer): Do it! Engineering is a great field for many reasons. You get to work on real-world problems applying your problem solving skills. It is also a well paying job and engineers are respected professionals around the world. You will be joining a family of innovators and creators.

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What is your favorite aspect of the job day-to-day?

Jeff Hinton, PE: My favorite aspect of the job day-to-day is the satisfaction of seeing incremental design tasks accumulate to accomplish great projects.

Natalie Chow, PE: Each project may be similar, but they are all unique; always something new and interesting to learn from each project. I also enjoy how much we collaborate on projects.

Scott Zelenka, PE: Engineers love to collaborate and support each other. Engineers are very aligned with a common goal and the team effort needed to get there.

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This year’s theme is “Creating the Future!” What do you think is the most pressing issue/trend the industry faces in the coming years?

Jeff Hinton, PE: I believe the most pressing issues the industry faces in the next 50 years will be additional design standards incorporating climate change and disaster preparedness criteria, increased strain on materials availability, deterioration of public infrastructure, and labor shortages in the building trades.

Natalie Chow, PE: Focus on sustainability and alternative resources.

Scott Zelenka, PE: Creating sustainability and dealing with climate change are two big challenges for all of humanity, and engineers will have a large role to play in both. Engineering is all about problem solving within a set of constraints. Creating sustainable infrastructure and mitigating climate change are just two more constraints that engineers are trained to consider in their design. There are many challenges, but just as many opportunities for brilliant solutions.