National Engineers Week is an annual week-long celebration honoring the many contributions that engineers make to society. It is also an opportunity to promote and inspire young people to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The celebration of Engineers Week was started in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers in conjunction with President George Washington’s birthday, who was considered the nation’s first engineer.¹

At Primera, we believe it is important to be an active participant in our communities and are particularly proud of our contributions in encouraging the next generation of engineers. That is why we partner with several institutions and organizations that do the same and encourage our employees to volunteer, mentor, and coach students and junior engineers when possible.

We could not do this work without our amazing engineers. This year during Engineers Week we featured several of our employees on social media and asked them to tell us a bit more about their career paths and engineering stories.

“My family has always been in construction. After a few visits to job sites, I noticed there were people not doing some form of labor like my relatives. Rather, they were finding solutions through plans, calculators, and the use of their brains. I eventually found out that these individuals were engineers. This made me to want to pursue a career in engineering, and still allowed me to honor my family’s background.”	Christian Orozco Civil Engineer
“Engineering has the ability to directly impact people’s lives for the better, and it also gives me a sense of purpose. Engineering helps us see the bigger picture and provides a tangible representation of all my hard work. It also allows me to focus on the intricacies of smaller design problems and solve puzzles daily. Every time I see something I helped design, I can see how it fulfills its purpose of serving a community, and it gives me the added motivation to design better things.”	Maanitraj Gopalraj Structural Engineer
“As a kid I always wondered how electricity was always there whenever I flipped a switch or plugged in a cord. This curiosity first developed my interest in electrical engineering. Fast forward to today and I am enjoying my job as an Electrical Engineer. I love the exposure of both the design work in the office and field work where I get to see the real-world implementation of my designs. My role has been creative and challenging as no two projects are alike. It’s always rewarding to see the system is getting better with my designs.”	Shrutika Dere Electrical Engineer
“My grandpa was a ComEd lineman all his life, and he definitely passed his interest in electricity down to me. When I was a kid, he would always tell me about how electricity worked and would show me all of the wires, insulators, and other equipment he had obtained during his time working. When these experiences are paired with my natural enjoyment of math and science growing up, I think I was always destined to be an electrical engineer.”	Joe Near Electrical Engineer
“Engineering is connecting science and theory to the material world. Engineering utilizes creativity and resourcefulness to make the future more livable. It is important because it makes ideas into reality to progress and advance humanity.”	Jamei Borges Drainage Design Engineer
“I enjoy seeing how engineers construct the lives of everyday people. Every time anyone goes anywhere, we use and see the work of engineers – from walking the dog on a sidewalk, to taking the train, or flying on an airplane, engineers played a role. We are important because we are like an essential organ in the human body; even though people usually don’t see all the work that we do, we help maintain the systems that support our society.”	Roman Khrakun Electrical Engineer
“I enjoy engineering because I am able to contribute to the planning and design of a variety of projects. I enjoy applying the math and physics I learned in school into real-world projects and seeing the final results.”	Nick Anaya Structural Engineer
“I have been lucky to work on wide-ranging projects impacting many different industries, from government defense facilities and health facilities, to office and educational buildings and transportation systems. I have been responsible for introducing several innovative systems, using out of the box solutions, and using technologies not normally used – this has kept me motivated after so many years in this career.”	Syed Ahmed Mechanical Engineer
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Engineers_Week_(U.S.)