NEWS & INSIGHTS > News > U.S. Engineering Team Members Presented at the 2024 MEP Innovations Conference
Feb 06, 2024
U.S. Engineering team members Hannah Thomazin (Project Engineer), Lauren Wilson (Project Manager, Strategic Initiatives), and Ryan Reed (Solutions Architect) led presentations at the 2024 MEP Innovation Conference in Orlando. The conference, held from January 29-31, is a premier event focused on technology for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, service, and sheet metal contractors. Organized by the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), and Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA), it features educational sessions led by contractors and covers new technologies aimed at enhancing productivity and profitability in the MEP sector.
In a general conference session, Lauren and Ryan spoke with Trimble’s Lawrence Smith about their experience embedding with A.G. Coombs (Australia) and NG Bailey (UK) as the inaugural participants our International Peer-to-Peer Team Member Exchange Program. That program, born out an international peer group the three companies formed a few years ago, offers participants a chance to visit other countries for several weeks, joining peer-group teams and learning about how mechanical construction companies operate outside their home country. The conference session allowed Lauren and Ryan to talk with Lawrence about global industry trends, cross-cultural relationships, and future impact on U.S. MEP practices.
“We emphasized the importance of looking beyond technology and exploring new perspectives to drive innovation,” Ryan said about the session. “U.S. Engineering fosters a culture of continuous improvement and strategic growth. Because of this culture, Lauren and I were able to participate in an amazing experience with NG Bailey and A.G. Coombs and wanted to share some of those highlights with our industry peers at MCAA and SMACNA.”
While their session focused on the international exchange program, Lauren, who was nominated by MCAA for the 2024 Innovator of the Year award, noted that “the main takeaway from our presentation was the importance of curiosity in all aspects of your business and the numerous forms it can take. Taking the time to look introspectively at the business as a whole and going another step to intentionally seek feedback from other perspectives will lead to unparalleled opportunities for business-wide improvement.”
Watch videos Lauren and Ryan shared in their session and learn more about our exchange program in this article.
Hannah, Project Engineer – Strategy, presented twice, on the main stage with Procore’s Sasha Reed and EM Duggan’s Jeff Elwell, and in a breakout session with Procore’s Eric Tucker. In both presentations, her focus was technology.
In “Measure What Matters,” Hannah—who recently was selected for the MCAA Innovative Technologies Committee—conveyed that technology isn’t going to solve 100% of an organization’s needs. Rather, it probably solves 80% of your needs off the shelf, and the remaining 20% requires intentional and innovative interaction with the total tech stack.
“We leverage Procore in a lot of our Project Management workflows, and they do a good job, but we needed to view information in a different way than what they allowed us to in their interface,” Hannah explains. “We leveraged custom fields, their API, and Power Bi to find and share the information we needed and connect three different groups in the process with minimal change management.”
All three U.S. Engineering presenters found this year’s conference not only professionally helpful, but personally inspiring. “Presenting at the MEP Innovation Conference was an extraordinary opportunity to step out of our comfort zones and share our unique international experiences with a distinguished audience,” Ryan pointed out. “Speaking to a room of 700 of the brightest minds in the MEP field about our journey abroad was not just a career highlight for me, but also a platform to inspire our peers.”
Lauren appreciated the display of creative problem solving in the profession: “This conference creates the best environment for you to think differently about your company’s challenges while surrounded by other creative minds and solutions. There are a lot of companies in our industry taking innovative risks in various ways, and this conference showcases some of the success stories that have incredible potential no matter the trade or size of the business.”
As Hannah highlights, the conference gave industry professionals the opportunity to talk about work culture, too. “During a reception, I had a great conversation with a 10+ year pipefitter about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in the workplace. He wasn’t familiar with the concept, so I shared that we had a DEIB Council at U.S. Engineering and that the foundation of DEIB is to create an environment and culture where people are treated with respect and feel safe in their workplace. He was super receptive, and it was a cool to share my perspective on it, too, as an early-career professional and as a woman.”
View photos from the conference, courtesy of MCAA, below.
Hannah Thomazin works with a variety of project teams at U.S. Engineering Construction on workflow improvement processes, labor tracking, and business intelligence analytics. She joined U.S. Engineering in 2020 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Benedictine College.
Lauren Wilson first joined U.S. Engineering in the preconstruction department. After gaining an understanding of the industry and project lifecycle, she began seeking opportunities to improve internal processes through automation and data analytics. Today Lauren’s role is to collaborate with team members at all levels within the organization to develop pragmatic solutions that streamline workflows and align with companywide strategic initiatives.
Ryan Reed’s passion is solving some of the most challenging problems in the mechanical contracting space and developing creative technology solutions, looking beyond our international borders for inspiration. He’s spent his career establishing high-performing teams and delivering results. His work explores tech solutions ranging from cloud-based web apps, mobile experiences, robust open APIs, and integrations with 3rd-party apps.