Who better to inspire millennials to pursue a STEM career than other millennials? That is the foundational principle behind the Close of Business podcast hosted by three young engineers at Black & Veatch (B&V).
Since 2018, Kevin Flaker, Becca Schmidt, and Ryan Karlin have presented more than three dozen episodes of the podcast, offering insights about getting into the engineering industry and sharing how fascinating it can be once you are there.
“We felt like there is this perception of what engineers and people working in the STEM industry are like,†says Schmidt, a mechanical engineer and associate client account manager at B&V. “We wanted to present what it is actually like to be an engineer. That it is really cool and exciting, and it does not have to be super-nerdy.â€
In 2017, Black & Veatch was looking for ways to better engage with the community. The firm held a series of staff roundtables to brainstorm.
“I threw out the idea that we could create a podcast,†says Flaker, an electrical engineer in B&V’s solar design practice. “It would be a way for us to engage with the community by high-lighting cool industry technologies that were emerging, as well as the different things that Black & Veatch was doing.â€
From the start, the presenters were adamant that the podcast could not just be an ad for their firm.
“In all honesty, that would be a turnoff,†Flaker says. Instead they wanted to focus on “any really cool thing going on in the STEM industry and utilize Black & Veatch’s knowledge when applicable.â€
“We are really fortunate that the firm leadership supports innovation,†Schmidt says. “They saw the value in what we wanted to do and were willing to take a chance on us and help us through this project and see where it could go.â€
From the first episode, it was clear the presenters are enthralled with engineering and love to talk about it.
“That is how we came up with the name Close of Business,†says Karlin, a civil engineer in B&V’s power delivery group. “It refers to the end of the day, and you go to happy hour and sit around talking about the latest news or STEM-related stuff in an informal way. We try to re-create that, being informative yet fun.â€
Over the past two years, the podcast has covered a lot of issues, but a mainstay has been helping millennials chart a course through a STEM career.
“We want to grow and influence STEM in younger generations, whether they are college students or are graduates flirting with the idea of getting into STEM,†Flaker says. “It is scary and daunting at first, so we are trying to bridge that gap. We ask the questions that they would be asking.â€
“We are learning just as much preparing these episodes as our listeners do,†Karlin adds.
Early episodes focused on the challenges for millennials getting into the industry, with titles such as “The College Experience,†“New Hire Survival Guide,†and “Office vs. Field.†Later episodes have explored further afield, such as autonomous vehicles, hyperloops, and engineering in the developing world, but running through all of them is the recurring theme that engineering can be a fun and exciting career.
Early guests tended to be B&V experts, including Chairman and CEO Steve Edwards, because their access was limited. Increased support from the firm allowed them “to buy fancy equipment or go to conferences,†Karlin says. As a result, recent episodes have featured Bruce Betts, chief scientist and LightSail program manager of Bill Nye’s Planetary Society, Erik Anderson, CEO of Topgolf Entertainment Group, and Prukalpa Sankar, co-founder of Atlan.
“Sankar is a woman who is dominating the STEM industry at such a young age,†Karlin says. “She is on her second company right now, focusing on big data and AI. That is going to be the dominating technology coming in the next 10 to 15 years, and she’s already at the helm.â€
“We in the millennial generation are really motivated by a kind of greater calling. I do not come to work every day just to respond to emails and do calculations. I come to contribute to a better society, a better community, and better infrastructure, so that we as a community can live a healthier, more comfortable life.â€
BECCA SCHMIDT
MECHANICAL ENGINEER, ASSOCIATE CLIENT ACCOUNT MANAGER
BLACK & VEATCH
Given the rapid influx of millennial engineers into the workplace, firms would be well served by understanding and supporting their unique outlook, according to Schmidt.
“We in the millennial generation are really motivated by a kind of greater calling,†she says. “I do not come to work every day just to respond to emails and do calculations. I come to contribute to a better society, a better community, and better infrastructure, so that we as a community can live a healthier, more comfortable life.â€
Adds Karlin, “A lot of the people we have interviewed are passionate about motivating and giving ownership to young people.â€
Learning from their own experience, Flaker advises fellow millennials, “If you have a good idea, in any successful company you are going to have leaders that would support you. The biggest thing is speaking up, expressing your idea, and then following through.â€
Close of Business is available on many podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Gerry Donohue is ACEC’s senior communications writer. He can be reached at gdonohue@acec.org.