Meet Sean Henry, PE, the newest member of our Civil / Site Team!
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself…
Sean: I am a native of Carbondale, Illinois and have lived there most of my life, except for a few years when I was attending UMR (now Missouri S&T) earning a BS in Civil Engineering. I have five brothers and we spent the better part of our youth tormenting our parents and trying to stay out of trouble, most of the time. I grew up in small business working in Henry Printing, Inc. which was started in 1972 by my parents and grandparents; my father still owns and runs the business today, nearly 50 years later! Working at the print shop taught me what hard work was all about and that it took a multifaceted team to get the job done. My father instilled the “you do what you have to do, even if you don’t want to” work ethic in me as a young man, something I am forever grateful for and that has helped propel me to a successful career as a Civil Engineer. Spending time with family is what I live for; we enjoy meals around the table (without electronics) as often as we can each week and enjoy making meals together. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen or in the backyard BBQing and smoking food for dinner. My boys and I are involved in Scouts and the whole family enjoys time outdoors, at the lake, and playing board games together.
Q: Why did you want to become an Engineer?
Sean: From a very young age I always wanted to know how things worked, so what’s the best way for a kid to figure this out? Obviously by taking anything and everything apart to see, though putting things back together did not always go so well at a young age. I have always been a hands on, mechanically inclined person so engineering seemed like a good fit. Also, it did not hurt that my father has a degree in electrical engineering and my stepfather is a Civil Engineer and land surveyor. Definitely their influences and trouble shooting skills pushed me towards engineering.
Q: What do you enjoy most about the types of projects you work on?
Sean: I enjoy the relationships with coworkers and clients, and being able to help them solve a problem or make their visions come to a reality. Even though I work on many of the same types of projects (site design, water & sewer infrastructure, transportation systems, etc.) each one is unique and has it’s own set of challenges to overcome.
Q: What piece of advice would you give someone choosing the same career?
Sean: Take your education seriously, it’s the foundation for your success, but be sure to balance education with family, friends, work and civic duties. Being well rounded will serve you better than education alone. Look for summer internships and get involved with community and professional organizations early on in your education and career. The relationships you make will be with you for a lifetime.
Q: Is there a project you’ve worked on thus far in your career that you’re proudest of?
Sean: One of the most enjoyable projects was a large apartment complex I worked on, Aspen Court Apartments in Carbondale. This project was unique as the owners were about my age (30’s at the time) and came in the door with a several already designed buildings and basically said, we need X number of each building type on the site, X number of parking stalls, and a list of amenities. I had the freedom to lay everything out and come up with the complete plans and designs. The 18+ acre site was also very challenging with about 45 feet of elevation difference from one end to the other; there are 306 units with about 730 bedrooms total on the site.
Q: What is one little known fact about you?
Sean: A little known fact about me is that I play the drums for relaxation and stress relief.
Q: What is one of the best gifts you have ever been given?
Sean: The best gift I have ever been given is a Yoder YS640S Competition Smoker, which my lovely partner in life, Patty, gave me for my 50th birthday last spring. It was truly an unexpected surprise and an awesome gift. It has allowed me to do well in one of my favorite hobbies, competition BBQing (smoking).
Q: What motivates you to work hard?
Sean: The satisfaction of a job well done, I take great pride in my work and enjoy seeing designs come to reality. Joining the Klingner team has also been very motivating! From my first introduction to Klingner & Associates P.C. it was obvious to me that it was not just another engineering company, they were an engineer family. Klingner not only cares, values, and treats their clients well, they care, value and treat each and every team member well too. It is exciting to be apart of the Klingner team and an honor to work for a company with such an amazing reputation and depth of services that we can offer our clients.