January/February 2017

Communities: Private Practice
Following in a PE’s Shadow

An Illinois firm shows students the ‘wow’ factor in engineering and science.

LEFT: HANSON’S STEVEN BROWN, P.E., DEMONSTRATES THE IMPACTS OF FLOODING IN A FLOODPLAIN MODEL. RIGHT: MARK DURRETT, A SPRINGFIELD SOUTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, AND HANSON’S JOSHUA COUEY, E.I.T., ASSIST STUDENTS WITH A ROADWAY ALIGNMENT PLANNING EXERCISE. PHOTOS BY JUNE STRICKER/HANSON PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INC.

Throughout the year, Hanson Professional Services Inc., receives multiple requests from local schools asking if students can job shadow the engineers employed with the Springfield, Illinois-based full-service consulting firm. The requests had become so frequent that CEO Sergio Pecori, P.E., an NSPE member, and firm leaders decided to launch a program designed to inspire young people to consider STEM careers.

“Shadow Hanson” debuted in October by welcoming nearly 30 students from three local high schools for a half-day program of presentations and hands-on learning activities. The program is open to students from local public and private high schools and will be held twice a year, including in February during Engineers Week.

“We want to let students know at a younger age that there are interesting career opportunities out there and support them in pursuing this path into college,” says Kevin Seals, Hanson’s chief environmental scientist and coordinator of the firm’s public outreach services.

Seals and Hanson’s Vice President of Human Resources Mina Biggs coordinated with Jennifer Gill, superintendent of a local school district, to make sure the firm developed a program that would attract students who have shown an interest in science and engineering college majors. Students enrolled in physics, precalculus, and calculus were selected to participate in the program.

During the inaugural program, five staff members gave presentations on electrical and mechanical design, water resources management, roadway services, and environmental services and projects. Although Hanson offers seven market service types, says Seals, one of the program goals is to avoid boring or overloading students with too much information.

A key ingredient of the Shadow Hanson program is to give students an opportunity to learn about engineering design concepts through a hands-on activity. Through this portion of the program, they can realize that engineering is part of the everyday things in the world around them. “We want them to think, ‘Wow, everything that is built around us—whether it’s a road, a building, or the lighting in that building—was designed by an engineer,’” says Seals.

Both the students and the firm’s younger employees greatly benefit from the program, says Seals. “This gives our junior-level employees public speaking and presentation experience. Also, students relate much better to them because they have only been out of college for a few years and this is their first job,” he says. “It’s a win-win for both groups.”

Shadow Hanson capitalizes on the firm’s previous successful outreach efforts. In 2013, Hanson partnered with the City of Springfield and Sangamon County to launch the “Grow Our Own” outreach program to provide mentoring and three paid summer internships to students of color. The outreach program also provides mentoring to local minority business owners to help them become eligible to contract with the Illinois Department 
of Transportation.

The “Grow Our Own” program isn’t just an effort to diversify the STEM fields, but also to encourage these students to come back to the Springfield community to pursue their careers. The community loses a significant number of graduates to bigger cities like St. Louis and Chicago, says Seals. Three graduates of the program have been hired as full-time Hanson employees. “We are trying to show that there are good jobs here in smaller communities,” he says. “We want them to stay here and contribute to our economy.”