Background:

After graduating from Maine Maritime Academy, I spent roughly two years working in operations at a coal-fired power facility. Upon leaving the operations side of the industry, I joined MD&A and completed our Engineer in Training (EIT) program, where I had the chance to learn and work on outages of varying steam turbine sizes and OEMs. Fast forward to almost 10 years of engineering experience, as of the spring of 2025, I took on my current role as Industrial Services Project Manager.

What do you do here at MD&A? What aspect do you enjoy most about your role at MD&A?

As a Project Manager for the Industrial Services team, I work closely with our customers and field teams during the bidding and planning phases of the outages. I also offer technical and office support while the outage is being executed, or when the customer may have an emergent issue. The Industrial Service team typically works with industrial customers rather than the traditional utilities; those customers may be paper mills, sugar mills, refineries, colleges, or hospital campuses, etc. The most enjoyable part of my current role is continuing to build relationships with our customers, many of whom I worked for when I was in the field.

What’s the most challenging aspect of managing turbine or generator service projects in the field, and how do you navigate it?

I believe the most challenging aspect of managing a project in the field is emergent work that may be identified during the outage. Emergent work could include repairing or replacing parts that the customer may not have in stock, and the lead time for new parts can be significant. This is why it is important to properly plan for the outage and have reasonable contingencies in place.

How do you approach coordinating between field service teams, customers, and internal departments during a major outage?

The coordination efforts begin as soon as we receive a Request for Quote (RFQ), sometimes even before this step, as the customer may request our involvement in building the scope of work. MD&A’s internal departments will work together to provide the customer with the most accurate pricing and schedule we can provide. During the planning phase, we will hold several planning meetings, internal and with the customer, to be sure nothing is overlooked. Communication and an accurate schedule are, in my opinion, two of the most important aspects of the team’s coordination.

What’s something most people don’t realize about what goes into planning and executing a successful industrial service project?

As I transitioned from the Field Engineer position, I quickly learned that resources are limited within the industry. Depending on the time of year, when a customer requests assistance, it is important to verify that we have the resources available before committing to a project. There is also a lot of “behind the scenes” work taking place before the outage that may include helping the customer build a work scope for that upcoming outage, building a schedule, performing a spare parts inventory, etc.

Why did you choose to work for MD&A, and why have you continued to choose to work at MD&A? How would you describe our company culture?

During my time as an operator, I learned that if plant operations are going well, the job can become quite repetitive. One of my college classmates had just joined MD&A, and I was lucky enough to be able to join shortly after. I’ve continued to stay with MD&A because they have continued to invest in me and allow me to grow as a professional. As the company continues to get larger, we have still held on to that “small company” feel, which I think is important to the employees and our customers.

If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing (besides money), what would it be?

An unlimited supply of golf balls would be great! They seem to disappear more often than I’d like to admit.