Base Office: Malta, NY
Email: jresnick@hallam-ics.com
After graduating school for Mechanical Engineering at SUNY Buffalo back in 2011, I decided to start my career in Manhattan as an HVAC designer. Prior to graduating, I was doing seasonal work – summers as a swim instructor and sailing instructor, winter selling skis and delivering pizza. I have always enjoyed living upstate, so while moving to a mega city like Manhattan wasn’t necessarily at the top of my list, I was offered an opportunity to design HVAC for buildings at a large A/E firm so I decided to go with an open mind. I believed that designing for the built environment would be a great way to use my career to contribute to the community as well as reduce our carbon footprint at one of the largest sources. While I found the work to be challenging, interesting and diverse in scope, I was itching to move somewhere quieter.
After meeting my wife and ultimately spending 6 years in the city, we followed a couple of friends to Albany, NY, where I joined another very large A/E firm and continued to stay in building consulting, but this time for what we called the “science and food” market instead of commercial high-rise work. In my years at that firm, my work brought me all kinds of experience, from pharmaceutical cleanrooms and state police forensic labs to aluminum galvanizing plants and shipyards. While the experience was as great as before, my friend/mentor eventually moved on, and I was keeping my eyes out for a path to continue growing.
I had heard of Hallam-ICS because they performed commissioning on projects I’d designed while working at large firms, but I didn’t know much else about them or their other business lines, one of which is MEP engineering. Keith told me that they were looking for an Engineering Manager in New York, and during my first conversation with him I said that I’d love the opportunity to grow into a role like that, but I’m not the 30-year veteran I imagine you’re after. Keith told me this is a place where I would have the support I needed, so gladly applied anyway. In the interviews following that discussion, Jamie and Kristian described a career where I not only would contribute by bringing my experience, but further develop through mentorship in an environment where community engagement was core to our practice, employee-owners share in the success of their work, and a where people are proud to say they’ve been for decades. It helped that my former mentor knows someone who loves working here.
I still believe that designing for the built environment is a great way to use my career to contribute to the community, and that it really does provide the opportunity to help reduce our carbon footprint at one of its largest sources. I look forward to continuing to grow with Hallam-ICS and I’m proud to say I work here.
