Have you ever wondered how solar and wind farms come to be? Well, wonder no more! It’s time for you to meet our Richmond Renewable Energy team! And, what better time to introduce these environmental experts than Earth Day!
In addition to a variety of eco-friendly based services like wetland restoration, pond and lake management, and erosion assessment, Timmons Group also offers engineering services that provide a strong foundation for renewable energy sites like wind and solar farms.
The renewable energy industry is a new and exciting venture around the world. Types of renewable resources vary, but one thing our services have in common is that they’re carbon-neutral, which means the projects we design aren’t emitting additional greenhouse gases into the atmosphere with the power they produce.
Midlands Solar in Calhoun, South Carolina
Bearkat I Wind Farm in Midland, Texas
Renewable energy design is a distinct type of engineering work, and many of the engineers that find themselves designing wind and solar farms discovered their careers because of their love for the environment. Time to meet four members of the Richmond Energy & Renewables team!
Meet Kate Lusco!Kate joined our Energy and Renewables group as a Project Engineer I in July 2020. She was an intern with Timmons Group prior to being hired and graduated from Virginia Tech with a Biological Systems Engineering degree with a Green Engineering minor. Kate says the industry was booming by the time she graduated, so it made sense for her to focus on renewables as a career path because there is so much opportunity for growth. She’s always been a proponent of taking care of the environment, so an environmentally focused career like renewables engineering was her calling. “We’re all environmentalists at heart, so to know that we’re participating in promoting solar energy along the east coast is just awesome,” Kate says. She clicks with her teammates on many levels, but Kate says that some of the things they have most in common are that they’re younger, eco-friendly people that see the value in the projects they’re working on. “We’re working on projects that span 400 acres and can take six months to produce. There’s just so much opportunity to do large projects like that one, so it’ll be really fun to see where we go next,” Kate says.
Meet Bryce Butler! As a Project Engineer I in the Energy and Renewables Group, Bryce works on a variety of projects. He joined the team six months ago and has been quick to learn the industry since. “The team provides such a collaborative environment,” Bryce says. “I was always interested in renewable energy since my freshman year in college, but the growth of the industry is really what attracted me. And I was attracted to Timmons Group specifically because of the growth opportunities within the company.” Bryce says working on solar farms is something he’s really passionate about because he is able to work on projects that are really making a difference for the world. He says that seeing the development of the industry is a thrill. “Being at the start of the whole movement and push to renewable energy is really exciting. Clean energy is certainly a component to why I’m interested in the field that we’re working in. Energy is something that we’re all using all the time, so with natural disasters that go on that might disrupt the system, it’s significant that we’re providing a variety of affordable energy sources that are beneficial for the environment,” Bryce says.
Meet Abby Simonpietri! Abby is a Project Engineer I at Timmons Group. “I’ve always been really invested in the environment so when I joined the Renewables team it just made sense because the industry just really aligns with what I’m passionate about,” Abby says. Abby graduated with a degree in Biological Systems Engineering so in school she did a lot of work with water resources and the environment. She’s responsible for a variety of things on the team; being a recent hire at Timmons Group, she has a lot of opportunities to work on projects with different needs. “Every day is something different and I’m constantly learning. It’s definitely a challenging job, but that’s what makes it fun too,” she says. Abby says that she’s gotten the chance to really get in tune with her team because of the company culture at Timmons Group. She was referred by Kate Lusco, her now-coworker on the team. “I’m just excited about the growth of Renewables and what the industry will look like in the future. If someone wanted to join our team, I would say one of the things I love most about working here is that the culture allows for a unique perspective in the field. The industry is changing very quickly, so having a team and group of managers that values our unique opinions is very important to me,” Abby says.
Meet Colby Dechiara! Colby has been with the Energy and Renewables team for just over three years at the Richmond office. He began his Timmons Group career in June 2017, a quick turnaround from his graduation from Virginia Tech that spring. “I was a Biological Systems Engineer graduate at Tech, so I had a strong interest in environmental work outside of land development,” Colby says. “After my experience working on a pipe network that required solar panel technology, I reached out to Timmons Group and knew this was the right company for where my career was headed.” Colby says that the thing he loves most about what he does is the scale of the projects he works on and the specialized needs of the field. He says the industry requires a lot of thought processes, the kind that take investment from the whole team. Because they all work so closely and help each other out a lot, Colby says that he’s really glad to be able to work at Timmons Group with a team that can think quickly and produce solutions with a common goal in mind. “Seeing my projects finished is really rewarding because of the amount of work that goes into them. It’s a very fulfilling job because some of the stormwater features we design are as big as football fields. It really is breathtaking,” Colby says.
As the renewable energy industry continues to grow, so does our need for team members to design these new wind and solar farms! We are looking for civil project engineers to #ComeWorkWith us. Are you interested in our career openings? Check out our open positions at timmons.com/careers/current-openings/.
Watch more from the team and hear about their experiences in their own words on our YouTube channel!
