Michael Baker International has been solving some of the world’s most complex infrastructure challenges for more than 80 years with a legacy of expertise, experience, innovation and integrity. Each and every member of our Wolf Pack throughout those eight decades has contributed to this legacy, consistently delivering groundbreaking projects and ultimately, improving quality of life from coast-to-coast.
We are kicking off Engineers Week, an annual industrywide celebration that highlights the enormous impact engineers have on our world today and will have in the years to come, by getting to know some of the talented engineers who are Making a Difference for our clients, for our company and for the communities we serve.
Rachel Wiggins, P.E., Senior Planner
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Michael Baker: What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
Rachel Wiggins: I loved math and problem-solving from a very young age, so putting those skills and interests to use in my college degree work was a natural decision. I had a fantastic opportunity that took me from my roots in rural Pennsylvania to the south side of Chicago to study at Illinois Tech. In the urban laboratory that is Chicago, I studied civil engineering with a minor in urban studies, focusing on structural engineering, transportation engineering and independent research projects on the city and its systems under the direction of a historian at the school.
Michael Baker: What are the most exciting opportunities, challenges or trends that you foresee in the engineering industry?
Rachel Wiggins: Climate resilience and system redundancy have an exciting opportunity to drive a lot of important conversations at the national, state, regional and local levels. These opportunities should continue to expand and grow, allowing a simultaneous conversation to happen related to how taxpayer money is used to accommodate climate change and the resilience of public utility systems. Pulling these affected utility systems into such a public dialogue will put these often unseen and under-appreciated engineered systems front and center. And connecting them with increasingly volatile and unpredictable weather will help to bring them into focus for potentially affected members of the public in a meaningful way.
Mark Kistler, P.E., Regional Practice Lead – Aviation
Tampa, Florida
Michael Baker: What do you love most about your job?
Mark Kistler: I like the challenge of finding the right solution for our client's problems and trying to do it as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
Michael Baker: What are the most exciting opportunities, challenges or trends that you foresee in the engineering industry?
Mark Kistler: Our challenge is, and will continue to be, infrastructure funding. Most of our clients are government entities with fixed budgets and doing things quicker and more cost effectively allows for the success of our clients and the communities we serve by preserving and protecting their fiscal resources.
Nathan Kebede, P.E., National Practice Lead of National Pavement Services
Austin/Round Rock, Texas
Michael Baker: What do you love most about your job?
Nathan Kebede: What I do (improving road quality) has a relatively immediate impact on the quality of life of the public. I also love the long-term planning aspect of my work that helps in the optimization of the use of public funds to pay for roadway maintenance.
Michael Baker: What are the most exciting opportunities, challenges or trends that you foresee in the engineering industry?
Nathan Kebede: I think the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision and virtual reality will greatly impact the engineering industry. Engineers will have tools that can improve our ability to determine new ways of solving problems and, just as importantly, communicate more clearly the value that we bring to the communities we serve.
Linda Gunn, P.E., Cost Estimator
Little Rock, Arkansas
Michael Baker: What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
Linda Gunn: I had no intention of becoming a Professional Engineer, a designer of roadway projects, a supervisor of other engineers or a transportation estimator. I have just walked through "open doors of opportunity," and here I am. When I graduated from high school, women were not encouraged to become engineers.
Michael Baker: What are the most exciting opportunities, challenges or trends that you foresee in the engineering industry?
Linda Gunn: We are losing our experienced engineers to retirement! The challenges will be 1) getting our college graduate engineers trained for production in a timely manner and 2) keeping up with all of the computer software revisions and updates in all segments of the industry—design and construction.
Steve Gravlin, P.E., P.S., Office Executive – Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Michael Baker: What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
Steve Gravlin: I grew up in the industry. My father was a surveyor, my great uncle was in trucking, and my grandfather was in construction and farming. Way back in my genealogy, Joseph Graveline was a surveyor and interpreter on the Louis and Clark expedition.
Michael Baker: What do you love most about your job?
Steve Gravlin: I love the human aspect of what we do. The technology and the design/construction process are interesting, but when you build these facilities, they become the life blood of an economic engine. We create a better quality of life, or we create access to jobs, health care or education. We build projects in the context of a greater community that is tied together by our projects.
Darshan Shivaiah, Technical Specialist – Air Quality & Noise
Santa Ana, California
Michael Baker: What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?
Darshan Shivaiah: Since a young age, I have been fascinated by the idea of creating something from nothing. As a child, I would often take apart everyday objects to study how they worked and would then attempt to reassemble them. I was especially drawn to the environmental engineering discipline because of the possibility of making a real difference in the world. I wanted to use my knowledge and skills to help improve people's lives and to solve the world's pressing problems. Engineering seemed like the perfect way to do that, and so I decided to pursue a career in the environmental engineering field.
Michael Baker: What do you love most about your job?
Darshan Shivaiah: I love the fact that I get to be creative and find innovative solutions to environmental problems. Every day is different, and I get to work on projects that have a real and tangible impact on people's lives. There's something very satisfying about being able to use my knowledge to make a real difference in the world. Plus, the research and development aspect of my job is really interesting and allows me to stay up to date on the latest breakthroughs in the field. It's incredibly rewarding to be part of a team that is working to make the world a better place.
