We’re thrilled to welcome mechanical engineer Casey Stein to the TowerPinkster team. Casey brings more than 20 years of experience to the role and has a passion for mentoring the next generation of engineering professionals. As the mechanical supervisor, Casey will serve as a key member of TowerPinkster’s leadership team. 

Casey received his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Detroit Mercy. He has worked on projects with the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority/Gordie Howe Bridge, the Army Corps of Engineers, the US Department of Energy, the University of Michigan, Kellogg Corporation, and numerous federal, private, and commercial clients. We are thrilled to welcome Casey to the team and look forward to the impact his leadership will have as we continue to grow our mechanical engineering team and services. 

Question 1: Tell us a little about yourself (where you are from, what your career path is, etc.)

I started my career as a college co-op at Peter Basso Associates in 2002, graduating from college in 2007. I worked with firms in the Detroit area until 2018, when my family and I moved to the west side of the state, where I continued my career at AECOM until coming to TowerPinkster. Through my work at various firms, I’ve been privileged to work with a wide network of design teams and project sizes, from small remodels to billion-dollar mega projects. As I have grown in my career, I’ve really enjoyed imparting my knowledge and experience to others as a team leader, task delegator, and mentor, as well as meeting people outside my native discipline to learn about what they do and find out what I can do to make their jobs better and lives easier.

Question 2: Tell us about a favorite project you’ve worked on recently. What made it interesting?

The most favorite/important/challenging project I worked on in recent years was the conversion of a five-story old, abandoned printing press building and office into a COVID-19 receiving and treatment facility in Memphis, TN. Upon the advent of the pandemic, it was difficult to hear stories on the news about doctors and nurses working themselves to exhaustion (or worse) while the rest of us had the “mandated luxury” of being told to stay home and work. I expressed this to my director at the time, in brief, that we design hospitals. Isn’t there anything we can do to help out? A few weeks later, we were granted the project through our internal business connections with the Army Corps of Engineers the opportunity to work on a 400-bed emergency receiving building to serve as a “spill-over” facility if and when the emergency rooms at local hospitals became overwhelmed. The catch was we only had 72 hours from the notice to proceed to complete the whole design and 29 days from the notice to proceed to a fully functional facility ready to receive patients. I rallied the department to drop everything and work tirelessly with me and other disciplines, and in 3 days’ time, we had completed the design. The construction team followed through on their end as well, and we hit the deadline. The project included 30 ICU pods and a dedicated wing with a new air handler, pressure-controlled entry and exit vestibules, newly extended/refurbished plumbing services, and a fully functioning oxygen farm. Aside from the nearly impossible deadline we managed to hit, it felt great to use our skill sets in the built environment to be a part of the solution against the COVID-19 pandemic and make a difference when it mattered the most.

Question 3: Why are you excited about leading TowerPinkster’s Grand Rapids Mechanical group?

In the short time I’ve had to meet everyone, I’ve discovered that everyone in the mechanical group is very motivated, incredibly capable (more than they give themselves credit for), intellectually curious, and open to continuing to grow in their careers. I’m excited to continue helping everyone maximize their potential in terms of technical competency and personal satisfaction in their work.

Question 4: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I enjoy spending time with my wife and children outside of work, which takes up most of my free time. However, when I do have time to myself, I enjoy gardening and archery/bowhunting. In the winter, we really enjoy watching hockey–the Red Wings and Griffins are our favorite teams. For two months of the year, I enjoy coaching my daughter’s floor hockey team at the rec center.