Personal Background
About
I have always wanted to understand how things work.
Some of my earliest memories of being interested in buildings are watching This Old House, Hometime, and other renovation programs with my dad.
Trips to hardware and lumber stores were genuinely exciting to me. Even now, the smell of fresh lumber brings back memories of walking through those stores and wanting to build something.
I remember my dad once buying me a single board that I happily took home, cut into pieces with a hand saw, and turned into some kind of project in the backyard. I doubt the finished product was especially impressive. What mattered was getting to build it.
That interest in buildings and making things has never really gone away.
Electricity developed its own fascination.
As a kid, I once pulled on the damaged cord of an old space heater and created a vivid blue electrical arc that seemed to sustain for several seconds. Ever since, I have tended to picture electricity as a sort of blue fire hidden inside the wires—powerful, fascinating, and something I wanted to understand.
Education Journey
A nonlinear path into engineering
I entered the University of Oklahoma in 2000 as an electrical engineering student while also serving in the Marine Corps Reserve. My interests changed, and I eventually switched majors and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2004.
The interest in buildings, construction, and electricity never disappeared.
After completing my psychology degree, I enrolled in an evening electrical trade program with the idea of becoming a full-time electrician. After only a few nights, I realized that I was looking for substantially more technical depth.
I did not simply want to know how to perform electrical work. I wanted to understand the electrical theory, engineering, and reasoning behind it.
That experience helped confirm the direction I wanted to take. I returned to OU in the fall of 2005 to restart my pursuit of electrical engineering.
In 2008, I was accepted as one of the first students into OU's accelerated BS/MS program in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I completed my Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with Special Academic Distinction in 2009 and later completed my Master of Science in Electrical & Computer Engineering in 2012.
Field & Engineering Integration
Learning both sides of the work
Engineering education gave me the technical depth I had been looking for, but I never lost interest in actually building things.
My construction experience began before my engineering career. Earlier in my working life, I worked in the mechanical and plumbing trades, installing HVAC and plumbing systems and performing equipment maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair.
I later returned to the electrical trade more formally. I began working as an electrical apprentice in 2014, earned my residential journeyman license in 2020, and advanced to an Oklahoma Unlimited Electrical Journeyman license in 2022.
I value having experience on both sides of the drawings. Engineering teaches how systems should be analyzed, calculated, and designed. Field work provides a different kind of education: constructability, existing conditions, equipment geometry, workmanship, and what happens when something does not work as expected.
Each has made me better at the other.
Current Focus
Coming back to buildings
buildings, electricity, engineering, construction, and codes.
Facility engineering eventually brought together several interests that had been present throughout most of my life.
Today, facility electrical engineering is the primary focus of my professional practice. I serve as a Senior Electrical Engineer at CEC, where my responsibilities include Engineer-of-Record work, technical oversight, peer review, development of company standards and specifications, and electrical technical training for engineers and designers.
Facility electrical engineering appeals to me because it requires understanding how many different pieces work together: utility power, distribution, loads, emergency systems, grounding and bonding, lighting, equipment, codes, construction, maintenance, and the needs of the people who ultimately use the building.
It is a field where theory and physical reality meet. That is the kind of problem I enjoy.
Summary of Record
Background & Service
Education
- Master of Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering University of Oklahoma · 2012
- Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering University of Oklahoma · 2009 Special Academic Distinction
- Bachelor of Arts, Psychology University of Oklahoma · 2004 Academic Distinction Minor in Sociology/Criminology
Professional Credentials
- Professional Engineer Oklahoma · Missouri · New Mexico
- Unlimited Electrical Journeyman Oklahoma
Military Service
- United States Marine Corps Reserve Sergeant (E-5), Supply Section Head 2000–2006 · Honorable Discharge
Professional Service
- Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission (OUBCC) Voting Engineer — National Electrical Code Technical Committee (NECTC)
- Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission (OUBCC) Former Chairman — Residential Electrical Technical Committee
- Gordon Cooper Technology Center Electrical Trades Program Advisory Committee
- IAEI Member
- NCEES Participant in Computer Engineering PE Exam Cut Score Panels