An
Engineered Life
Standing in the hallway amongst the company’s top
executives and engineers was Dave McMillen. Faded blue jeans, a multicolored
flannel button-up and some Nike sneakers normally were not acceptable attire
when the executives were in town, but everyone made an exception for Dave. Dave
never even noticed that everyone else was wearing fancy thousand dollar suites
and even if he did, it would not have fazed him on bit. “I was thinking”, he
said loudly as if he was on the brink of needing hearing aids, “I was thinking”
he repeated. You see, that was Dave’s line, and when he said it everyone
stopped what they were doing to listen. They all knew that whatever followed
next was worth their time.
His now graying hair and beard had once been black
as night, but that is to be expected for a 68 year old. However, don’t let the
aging appearance fool you; Dave is just as witty and funny as he’s always been.
“What do you think I do while I’m “watching” television”, he said with a sarcastic
smirk. One of his many understudies, Ryan, a twenty-something millennial engineer,
stared at Dave wondering if he was serious. But of course he was serious, you
see Dave thinks that tackling tough calculations is best done while having ten
other things going on at the same time. Dave
carried on, saying to Ryan, “Seeing as you have been on vacation for the last couple
of weeks I have about a dozen new words to share with you.”
Dave likes to throw out words that no one has ever
heard before, not only does he go on to define the word, he will use it in a
few sentences as well just for good measure. At first Dave is more of an
acquired taste, but as time goes on everyone seems to find beauty in his obscure
messages. The younger engineers all seem to slowly latch on to him as their
mentor. Seemingly because of the certainty and clarity he provides on topics
that are all too often complex and confusing, especially for new grads just
getting their feet wet.
Even at 68 with all that he has accomplished, Dave
has never succumbed to the idea that he is entitled to rest on his laurels. He
is not one of those stuffy, self-absorbed engineers who stop searching for
answers. But, rather his thirst for knowledge is unquenchable and his love for
sharing it with others is infectious. His ideas are constantly stretching the
boundaries of what is known, as if bucking the proverbial system was his
favorite pastime. Dave’s closest friends call him a cowboy from time-to-time; a
few are actually convinced he is an alien from a distant galaxy. Any way around
it, Dave is loved by his friends and colleagues alike for they know that he
would drop everything to help them should they need his help.
A now CEO and the Principal at his own firm, Dave
stated out from humble roots back on his family’s farm in Indiana. As a small
boy he enjoyed finding solutions to the many daily challenges that would come
up on the farm. Dave’s constant need to know why lead him to the University of
Minnesota back in the 1970’s where he would complete a Mechanical Engineering
Degree and shortly thereafter a P.E. license that is still valid in three
states. Dave is as well-read and well-written as they come. His passion and
life’s work has been focused on large scale energy conservation projects for
the government, schools and commercial/ industrial buildings. Dave has multiple
patents on energy saving devices, as well as energy analytics software that he
uses to further his belief that humanity needs to do better as stewards of this
planet. His many published works reinforce his belief that the current status
quo is not sustainable and that the process in which we design and operate our
buildings needs to be overhauled.
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