Employee Spotlight

Ken Nisly-Nagele, P.E.

Why did you choose engineering as a career path?
I choose engineering to answer questions I had about how physical objects and systems of objects can be developed to benefit life. After graduation from high school I was running a small business and working as a machinist for a pneumatic controls manufacturer. A mechanical engineer educated in Germany for whom I was building control valve prototypes said “You’re asking a lot of good questions, have you considered studying engineering to answer them?” As a result of that question, I decided on engineering, more as a vocation, than as a career path.

Where and when did you get your degree and in what discipline?
I graduated from a 5-year mechanical engineering program at the University of Cincinnati in June, 1981. UC had the first co-op program in the country, and that program required a longer period of study to complete than at most schools. As a result, I was able to pay my way through college on the co-op income, and I thoroughly enjoyed the co-op assignments.

How long have you worked at Applied?
About 5 years, since the end of June, 2003.

What is your specialty? Field of expertise?
Pipe flexibility (stress) analysis, steam system design, fire prevention systems design, and hydraulic analysis of incompressible fluids, including some multiphase analysis, are my primary specialties. I have also been frequently called on to provide code research and technical research for special scope items in projects and studies.

What type of projects do you find to be the most challenging?
Projects where the safety and welfare of people are at risk are the most challenging to me, because the details and design decisions are much more critical. One example is piping systems containing high temperature, pressurized fluids, and which connect to rotating machinery and pressure vessels.

What do you enjoy most about your job and working at Applied?
There are two parts that I enjoy. First, I enjoy pursuing my interest in figuring out how to make physical systems serve life. Second, I enjoy working at Applied because my associates share the values I place on integrity and trying to meet the needs of our clients.

Do you have any hobbies or outside interest?
My primary outside interest at this time in my life is supporting my children’s endeavors which include involvement in 4-H livestock projects, such as poultry (layers and meat birds), goats, and sheep. I also support our family’s vegetable and fruit production and preservation efforts. My favorite hobby is growing various lettuces and greens in the winter in a hoop house structure.

Is there anything else about yourself that most co-workers and client contacts don’t know?
I have been attending code development meetings for ASME B31.1 – Power Piping code and B31.3 Process Piping code and find the meetings very stimulating…what does that say about me?