We Are Loureiro: Ryan Kelting
February 1st, 2024
Senior Project Manager Ryan Kelting believes that his main role at Loureiro is to be an indispensable partner for Loureiro’s clients.
“I think of myself as their partner, not a consultant,” says Ryan. He prides himself on being there for his clients, particularly when he picks up the phone and a client is on the other line asking him about something outside of his discipline, seeking his advice.
“That’s when you can tell a client is treating you more as a partner and less as a consultant. It lets me know that they are happy with what have been doing for them, and they can trust us to steer them in the right direction.”
In the ten years Ryan has been designing, permitting, installing and maintaining wastewater treatment systems with Loureiro, he has identified three strong qualities that make for an excellent partnership.
“Being an expert in the field isn’t enough. That’s the baseline. Empathy, efficiency, and a team-oriented mindset — all three are important, and allow you to put yourself in the headspace of a client. Sometimes a client comes to us and they may not know the extent of the problem they are facing. Putting those qualities together leads to better solutions for the client.”
A graduate of the University of Connecticut with a BS in Chemical Engineering, Ryan started with Loureiro in 2013 and spent his first few months working on environmental engineering projects, collecting soil and ground water sampling and interpreting that data for further field work. It wasn’t until Loureiro secured a large project in Florida when Ryan started delving into wastewater treatment systems – managing industrial wastewater projects, upgrading existing treatment systems and process lines, and designing and constructing brand new wastewater treatment systems. The success of the work in Florida has led to other large projects in West Virginia, Colorado, and Connecticut.
“For me, the fun stuff has been designing these full scale wastewater treatment systems,” Ryan says. “I was on the road for a lot of these projects physically constructing what I designed in the office. That’s part of the fun of it for me – going from a concept to a living, breathing thing.”
Ryan’s on the road less now. In contrast to when he started at Loureiro, he’s not in the minute details of the design and construction of these complex systems; these days he’s more of an overseer, leading multiple of these large projects at once while tapping into his prior experience to help answer questions and give guidance to his team. Working on these projects almost always involves adjusting to changing conditions, and Ryan and his team are adept at pivoting when necessary in order to keep the project moving forward on the right track.
Ryan learns through experience, by getting his hands into a project, and that’s how he seeks to manage - by presenting a problem to his team and asking them to think about it and providing the guide rails as necessary.
“Being able to see newer people getting this experience, excelling, and watching as they start picking up on things and being able to unleash them on more complex projects has been one of the more rewarding aspects of my role.”
Outside the office, Ryan takes a deep dive into the world of sports. Whether it's the thrill of watching, the excitement of listening, or the sheer adrenaline of getting out there and playing, Ryan's passion for athletics knows no bounds. In fact, he's not just a spectator; he's an active participant in a Men's Ice Hockey League.
