Stories

Engineering Week serves as an annual reminder of the role engineering plays in shaping our world. From the infrastructure that supports our daily lives to the technologies that revolutionize industries, engineering stands as the bedrock of progress and innovation.

Whether it's the roads we traverse, the buildings we inhabit, or the digital systems we rely on, engineering is everywhere. This weekly celebration of engineering underscores the impact engineers make, highlighting their ingenuity and problem-solving prowess. Moreover, Engineering Week serves as an invitation to recognize and appreciate the countless ways our lives are enriched by this field, driving the wheels of advancement and shaping the future.

This year, we spoke to #TeamLoureiro members including Senior Project Manager Dave Payne, Project Coordinator Jeff Loureiro, and Project Engineer Christine Gray about their personal and professional journeys - exploring how they knew early in their careers and schooling that they were on the right path, and asking for advice they’d give to up and coming engineers.
 

It’s tough to pick a path. How many people start studying something before completely switching gears? With that in mind, why engineering?

Dave Payne, Senior Project Manager – “My father was a carpenter when I was growing up, and I would spend summers working with him building houses. I took an interest in how buildings were designed and constructed.  He suggested to me that if I were interested in building and designing structures then I should get a degree in civil engineering. Upon taking an introductory course in civil and environmental engineering at UConn, I found my passions aligned better with the water resource component of environmental engineering. This was the first step in my career to become an environmental engineer. From the guidance of several key professors and mentors along the way, I found my way into consulting.”

Christine Gray, Project Engineer – “I always favored math, science, and problem solving in school, and I can remember wanting to be an engineer since I was a kid. I have a core memory from elementary school where I attended an event at The XL Center with my grandmother. There was an activity where we could build bridge models on a computer. It was my first introduction to trusses and bridges and what a civil engineer is and does. From that point forward, I wanted to be an engineer.”

Jeff Loureiro, Project Coordinator – “My father (Julio Loureiro, the founder of Loureiro Engineering Associates) was an engineer so I grew up with an engineer in the house. In high school, I was good at math and science but I didn’t care much for History, English and the rest of it, so the technical field was an obvious choice for me. I worked with my father during the summers and I enjoyed the kind of work that he was doing, which was mostly municipal sewage collection and treatment systems. I got to spend some time out in the field and I got exposed to the construction side as well as the design side. It was exciting to me.”
 

Was there a particular moment or project that helped you realize you were on the right path?

Dave Payne, Senior Project Manager – “Towards the end of studying for my Masters, I attended a UConn career fair and reconnected with a former teaching assistant, Matt Quaranta (VP Facility Engineering at Loureiro). By reconnecting with Matt and hearing more about his work as an engineer in consulting and specifically the projects he was working on at Loureiro, my interest grew. Seeing someone like Matt, who took the same path I did of studying at UConn for both his Bachelors and Masters, made me realize I was doing the right thing.”

Christine Gray, Project Engineer – “I had a couple older friends and family members who attended UCONN’s School of Engineering while I was in high school. One friend went to work at the CTDOT as a hydraulic civil engineer. This gave me some insight of what to expect in terms of a career path and sparked my interest specifically in water resources engineering. I then took the opportunity to study abroad at Lund University in Sweden and focused my curriculum on hydrodynamics. I gravitated towards having the ability to mitigate flooding and prepare for worst-case scenarios to help the general public, while also having the ability to work outside and be hands-on. During my senior year I performed a dam breech analysis where I completed an Emergency Action Plan and hydraulic model in HEC-RAS (a one-dimensional steady flow hydraulic model designed to aid hydraulic engineers in channel flow analysis and floodplain determination) and that was the cherry on top. I knew that this type of work is what I wanted to do.”

Jeff Loureiro, Project Coordinator – “One of my first jobs in the industry was working in Boston on a regional wastewater collection system that covered the City and adjoining communities. At the time, they had an old combined sewer system where wastewater was mixing with stormwater. When it rained, the overflow went into the Charles River, the Neponset River, and the inner harbor. The project involved studying various alternatives for lessening the impact of the discharges, eliminating them, expanding treatment plants, and exploring deep ocean outfalls (a pipeline or tunnel that discharges municipal or industrial wastewater, stormwater, and combined sewer overflows). Working on this project gave me a lot of opportunity and responsibility.

A big part of consulting engineering is communication, and I was making presentations in Faneuil Hall at 25 years old to a packed crowd of people who were directly affected by this project. It was challenging, but exciting, and I enjoyed the problem solving aspect and the communication part of it as well.”
 

What advice would you give to an aspiring engineer?

Dave Payne, Senior Project Manager – “Communication is key to your success. When I started at Loureiro, I tapped into the opportunities to meet with, ask questions of, and gain valuable insight from my coworkers. I was, and still am, surrounded by individuals with a lot of expertise in a variety of fields and a willingness to share that knowledge. I found that my learning continued far past my schooling and that was mainly due to the ability to connect, communicate, and build lasting relationships with my team.

Another piece of advice I like to share with young engineers is to be open to feedback, especially constructive critiques. Feedback is intended to push you further and expand your abilities to be a successful engineer.”

Christine Gray, Project Engineer – “Never stop asking questions. Many of us have been out of school for several years and you can forget what it’s like to be an entry level engineer. Get as much experience as you can, and dip into all the different fields of engineering. For instance, at first you may think civil engineering is just bridges and roads, but there is transportation, water resources, environmental, traffic management, and structural engineering all rolled into it. Dip into as many fields as you can until you find your niche. During my first year as an engineer, I was told, ‘You are a sponge. Take this year as an opportunity to absorb as much information as possible.’ This has always stuck with me and I continue to relay this quote to interns and junior engineers.”

Jeff Loureiro, Project Coordinator – “I have two sons that are engineers – one is a computer science engineer; the other is a chemical engineer. If you’re starting out in school or in your career, don’t be afraid to try a bunch of things. Find a role that makes sense and is comfortable for you.”