Employee Spotlight

Tim Anderson

Why did you choose engineering as a career path?
When I was a senior in high school, I was thinking about signing up at Lincoln Tech for Diesel Mechanic School. However, my older brother (who was an electrical engineer) and my dad sat me down and told me that I should try Purdue for a year to see how I liked it. After I started taking classes there I was hooked on engineering.

Where did you get your degree and in what discipline?
I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University in 1983.

How long have you worked at Applied?
I have been working for Applied for 10 years.

What is your specialty? Field of expertise?
I am best known for chiller plant design and pipe flow modeling.

What type of projects do you find to be the most challenging? What types are the most rewarding?
In general, it is challenging to produce a quality design for a project while also meeting all budget requirements and achieving complete client satisfaction. When all of these things happen, it is very rewarding.

Commissioning work is also both challenging and rewarding because while commissioning as an engineer, you have the opportunity to observe precisely how a design is translated into a real-life product. If you’re an attentive engineer, the mistakes you find during commissioning work can be great learning lessons for the future.

What do you enjoy most about your job and working at Applied?
We do a fair amount of renovation work to buildings which gives me a unique opportunity to see a problem that an Owner is dealing with. I enjoy being able to present solutions to a problem and then observing the implementation and completion of those solutions to see the work actually improve the situation.

Do you have any hobbies or outside interests?
I am most interested in getting in the outdoors and going hunting. I have been bow hunting deer for almost three years, and it is very challenging. I have a tree climbing stand, but when it comes to bow hunting the deer have all of the advantage.

I am also very involved in service work at my church, St. Maria Goretti Parish. I participate in marriage ministry with my wife, take summer learning sessions, sponsor new members of the church and participate in the Holy Name Society.

Vegetable gardening is also enjoyable; I am able to work out daily frustrations in the evening while growing ingredients for salsa at the same time.

Is there anything else about yourself that most co-workers and client contacts don’t know?
I am very interested in mechanics and car repair. I don’t like using mechanics; I would rather change the oil on the car and fix the car’s problems myself. I also like to renovate cars; I owned a 1971 Triumph TR6, which I spent 10 years renovating and 2 years driving (I had to sell it in 2003 with a new driver in the house).

During college I was a lifeguard in the summer and I was recruited to give swimming lessons to kids. I made a decent living (as a summer job), but the best part was that I got a lot of positive feedback from both the parents of the kids I was teaching and my boss.