Greg Thompson

Mechanical Engineering
Justin Alpern
POE Block 3
10/19/15 @ My House (over the
phone)

Professional Background:
Interviewee Name: Gregory Scott Thompson
Interviewees Specific Degree: Bachelors in Science and Mechanical
Engineering with a Minor in Business Administration from SMU
Interviewees Place of Employment: Burns & McDonnell
Interviewees Professional Business Email Address:
gsthompson@burnsmcd.com
Professional Interview:
1. Please describe the field of mechanical engineering, in general.
a. In general, I would say that the field of mechanical engineering
has to do with the design of things that move or that inhabit
space in this world. But really, I would define it as very, very
broad. You can divide it up into more mundane things and more
dynamic things probably But I would say that more specifically,
most mechanical engineers tend to work with things that move
in some capacity and that are either self-propelled or propelled
by a different source that the mechanical engineer can then also
work on designing.
2. What is your current job title?
a. My current job title is assistant mechanical engineer.
3. Please describe your particular job and duties.
a. So, I work in a group at our company that focuses on energy
planning and also on design of central utility plants that produce
steam, hot water, and/or cold water for campus distribution
networks. So you look at things like large industrial plants, large
industrial areas, district energy systems, hospital districts,
university campuses. We also do energy planning and forecasting
and we also design their central utility plants, which sometimes
do include electrical grid works to help develop the campus
specific electrical grid. For example, if they need a localized
backup system that they can use to provide redundant power in
the event of a power loss. However, our electrical engineers do
that work, so I mostly focus on the hot and cold water and the
steam generation, as well as distribution networks.
4. What is your average work schedule?

a. In a week, I work about 45 hours or so. Thats the basic 8-5, 8-6
with a lunch break. The majority of my time is spent in CAD
software, laying out equipment or laying out piping networks, as
well as supplemental CAD work that needs to be done. For
example, scheduling out the specifications of the equipment or
drawing out 2D diagrams of piping systems. Id say probably
another 30% of my time is spent in Excel or other spreadsheettype programs. Typically, at least what Ive experienced, in the
field of engineering a lot of hand calculation has been replaced
by modeling software or CAD work, with Excel supplementing
that for some calculations. I really dont do very many hand
calculations anymore, I mostly do it in Excel or in modeling
software so that theres a solid record of what I was doing, which
I found interesting. Coming out of college, I didnt really expect
that. I thought that everyone just walked around with a giant,
thick 3 ring binder just full of calculations that theyd done.
Another 10% is spent doing supplemental modeling. So whether
thats researching different things that need to be done or using
other programs other than CAD; we have some fluid dynamics
modeling programs, air modeling programs, heat generation and
air conditioning modeling programs, stuff like that. And Id say
probably about 5% of my time is spent dealing with email,
keeping track of my own records for the work that Ive been
doing.
5. Starting with high school, describe your educational background
chronologically.
a. I did high school at Westwood, obviously. I did the IB program
through all 4 years, including getting an IB diploma at the end. In
high school, I didnt really do any engineering physically or want
to do engineering, but I mostly focused on sciences, specifically
physics. Physics was my extra, higher level learning opportunity
in high school. And then when I went to SMU I started off the dot
declared as a pre-engineering major, which was a requirement
there. Youre not allowed to declare your engineering major until
you have a certain number of credits. From there, I started taking
engineering courses to augment SMUs required liberal arts
program that they made all students do in addition to whatever
their major is. I also began doing business courses because I
knew I wanted to get a business minor. So I did all of the basic
mechanical engineering courses; Statics, Dynamics, Fluid

Mechanics, Fluid Dynamics, Vibrations, Thermal Systems,

Engineering Control and the like. On top of a fairly rigorous math
curriculum all the way up through the highest level of Calculus,
Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, etc. and some Math
Computer Modeling. On top of that, as part of the business minor
program, I did a slew of instrumental business courses, some
entry level courses in accounting and finance, marketing,
managerial behavior/organizational behavior, as well as some
finance classes, business modeling classes. I also studied for and
passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam to be certified as
an engineer in training in the State of Texas.
6. If you had to do it over, related to your career or education, would you
do anything differently?
a. That is a very, very interesting question The one thing that I
did that I thought was a little odd was that I thought that I could
finish my undergraduate degree in 3 years. So, for my first
semester, I loaded myself up with engineering hours. I took 3
engineering courses, 2 math courses and 2 engineering labs on
top of that. It didnt exactly turn out how I anticipated. I realized
about halfway through the semester, when I decided to actually
look at my degree requirements instead of just listening to what
my advisor said, I realized that not only could I not finish my
degree in 3 years without summer school, I also completely
burned myself out. I spent a LOT of time studying when I really
shouldve been sleeping. I think, that semester, I ended up
staying up for 43 hours in a row at one point because I had 2
final projects due at 9:00 AM one day and then I had another
class at 6:00 PM that same day, so I really had to take the winter
break after that to just sit back and evaluate what I was doing
and kind of re-plan out my courses to give myself more of a
break You need to have a good balance, because there comes
a certain point where you can be doing too much.
7. What advice would you give to me as someone interested in pursuing a
career path similar to yours?
a. It depends on what you want to do with your engineering.
Because you want to work with designing and building machines,
I would say to look for a college that has the kind of courses that
you want to take There are certainly schools out there that
have that kind of background to give you the tools to let you do
what you want to do. Schools that have very strong

manufacturing programs or that have labs with modular

components, things like that. When you get into machine design,
in mechanical engineering specifically, theres no two ways
about it; youre going to have to look at manufacturing. I think
thats pretty obvious, but some people overlook it.
Personal Reflection:
1. What surprised you the most about the interview?
a. I was most surprised by how casual the whole thing was. For
example, he insisted that I call him Greg instead of Mr.
Thompson. While the interview was conducted over the phone, I
dont think that that affected it very much, because the emails
were also very casual.
2. What was the most important piece of information that you learned
from the interview?
a. The most important thing that this interview taught me is that,
just like what my brother tells me, college is not to be
underestimated. However, whereas my brother gave warnings
about time management, studying, and taking classes seriously,
Greg gave warnings about not overdoing things and having a
balanced course load. Both of those pieces of advice are very
useful, and Ill be sure to put them to good use.
3. How has this interview influenced your feelings about your future
career?
a. After this interview, Im more excited than ever about going into
mechanical engineering. I still have a ways to go with learning
more about engineering and physics, but Im looking forward to
both the journey ahead of me and the destination.
4. How has this interview changed and/or confirmed your plans regarding
your future career?
a. Im still planning to go into mechanical engineering, but
considering Gregs advice, I may want to look more into some
mechanical engineering jobs to see if thats really what I want to
do.
5. What is the next step for you to pursue your plans? Who do you need
to talk to? What information do you need?
a. The next step in pursuing my plans for mechanical engineering
would be to look up mechanical engineering jobs and decide if I
want to do that or electrical engineering, which has always been
my backup choice. After that, I need to finish my high school

classes and pick out a college that best suits the major I decide
to go for.