Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/375565
t m c » p u l s e | s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 24 Q | Tell us about your formative years. A | I was born in San Antonio and raised in San Antonio and South Texas. In my early years, I spent a lot of time with my family in South Texas. I have great memories of visiting with my cousins on their farms and hunting with them and my family. During high school, I was interested in science. Back then there was no STEM program to really get you interested in science or engineering, but I always liked taking things apart and putting them back together. We worked on everything that we had at home. We didn't have people fix things. If some- thing broke we fixed it. One of my grandfathers was a carpenter, and so I learned about building somewhat that way. My father always worked on his own cars, so I learned to repair cars. I guess what really led me into engineering was seeing a presentation by Texas A&M University at a high school career fair. That presenta- tion clearly presented what engineering was all about and I liked what I saw. As some people might say—although I don't like the phrase—I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in San Antonio and went to a junior high school where I was right on the diving line. I did not know this, but iNdUSTry SPOTLiGhT it was explained to me when I reached high school. I was in a poorer junior high school area by one street, but I was in a more affluent high school by one street. There were some 1,200 students in my class in high school, and very few of us came from my junior high school. We all had to push hard to get into accelerated classes. My parents were very strong supporters of my sister and me. They would say 'You can do any- thing you want to.' Once I was accepted into the more accelerated classes, the teachers were outstanding. The quality of the teachers and the encouragement from them was really great. When I was 14, I started work at a department store after school. I had one of the best bosses you could have. As a new employee, he challenged you, but he trusted you. In other words, he would give you responsibilities, as much as you could take. He never screamed at you, never corrected you. He was always encouraging. I only worked with him for two years before he moved, but he gave me a special education on management and leadership during those years. One thing that I still remember today is my final meeting with my high school counselor to discuss my plans following graduation. During that meeting, my high school counselor suggested that I not attend college and that I attend a technical school as it would be more appropriate for me. That meeting, along with my parents always encouraging me, inspired me to graduate from a major university. My father is Austrian/German and my mother is German. Our whole family is very conservative, so it was clear I was going to a conservative school. When I visited the Texas A&M University campus for the first time, it obviously had a military influence. I was not in the CORP, but I lived in a CORP dormitory and actually was a waiter at Duncan Hall, which was their dining facility. I met a lot of good friends there. Q | Tell me about your job today. A | I always try to remember I have an internal job and an external job. One internal job is leading and teach- ing my staff. In personality trait studies, I've always been told that if I wasn't going to be an engineer I was going to be a teacher. It's something I really enjoy, so I take that on as a very important part of my job. Outside, I work a lot more on planning projects than the execution part. If you don't plan a project right, it will never end up correct. I try to develop strong edwin c. FriedricHS, Senior principal for walter p. moore, reflectS on what leD him to enGineerinG, anD how the infraStructure of the texaS meDical center haS chanGeD over the paSt Several DecaDeS.