Engineers and surveyors in demand in Alaska: getting that engineering degree makes good cents in Alaska.
With engineering schools clamoring to fit the demand, it's a good time to be an engineer or surveyor in Alaska. Though elsewhere, the picture is not so rosy.Down south, as the nation ramps up slowly to economic recovery, industry watchers wait patiently for the increasing market stability to translate into jobs. In the unemployment lines, downsized technical and knowledge workers--who long ago lost their patience--are bombarded with daily headlines announcing yet another U.S. company will send its jobs overseas. The Wall Street Journal reports IBM will move some 4,700 programming jobs from domestic sites to India, China and other foreign countries. That technology company has already hired some 500 engineers in India. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that the traditional wellspring of economic growth--the small business--is "stuck in neutral."
So if engineers remain skittish and nervous about their job prospects elsewhere in the nation, why is Alaska any different? What is happening here to justify the flood of opportunities for a qualified engineer? And how are educators answering the call of an increased demand? Finally, is that "neutral" ground in the Lower 48 having any measurable effect on the Alaska engineering or surveying work force?
FROM THE TRENCHES
Engineers and hiring managers from around the state confirm it's an employee's market in related Alaska fields--provided you come to the table with the correct qualifications.
"Yes, I do believe that there is a high demand for both engineers and surveyors in Alaska," confirms Michael H. Schoder, survey manager for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Central region. "Anyone who has been in a position that requires hiring of engineers or surveyors knows it is difficult to find qualified and experienced personnel.
"There are always ads in newspapers and other recruitments for engineers and surveyors," Schoder says. "Recently, I have seen open 'head-hunting' of private firms trying to entice employees to leave present positions. These are indications of the high demand."
Grover L. Johnson, an engineer for Anchorage-based Shannon & Wilson Inc., works at an office that includes a total of 13 engineers and eight geologists and scientists. The company is at work on feasibility and siting studies for a Knik Arm crossing from Anchorage to McKenzie Point, realignment of tracks for the Alaska Railroad Corp., the expansion of the Ship Creek rail yard, as well as several projects in Southeast, and several Alaska environmental cleanup projects. He also sees indicators that engineers and affiliated professionals are in short supply.
"Moderate to high," he says of the interest in engineers. "This is because there are not a lot of--or any--good engineers on the streets looking for work at the present time to my knowledge. Also, I don't hear that engineers are being laid off!"
THE HIGH DEMAND FOR THE ENGINEERING/SURVEY SECTORS
Land surveying is a specialized field that supports four main sectors: engineering design of civil works and commercial development, the building and construction industry, geographic information system development, and land boundaries and property development, according to Tallak "Tuck" Maakestad, president of the Alaska Society of Professional Land Surveyors. "Each one of these sectors is on the upswing in Alaska, and perhaps to a certain extent all over the country," he says. "The combined effect of the current activity in each of these sectors has increased the demand for qualified people in our field of expertise."
Still, some say there is some discussion that the tide is being stemmed with an influx of interest from out-of-work engineers in the Lower 48.
"In general it is ... not nearly as severe as a year ago," reports William Van Hemert, manager of CRW Engineering Group LLC. "That is, in part, because of the recession down south. We are getting many more unsolicited applications and are able to find people to meet our needs."
So is this overall demand for engineers a local phenomenon, or a national trend? Many believe it is a pocket occurrence.
"I tend to believe that demands for engineering are regional," Schoder says. "There are some areas of the country with little demand, others with high demand like Alaska--for example, the West Coast and Southwest."
"From my position, I would say the need at this time is localized," Van Hemert agrees. "Two years ago, I would have told you it was nationwide and there truly was a shortage of engineers."
What are the factors influencing the demand?
"Hard to say exactly," according to Schoder. "In Alaska, increased yearly project funding for federal and state projects secured by our ranking congressional delegation feeds the other general demand of growth in a relatively young state. Also, I think that the engineering and surveying professions are not being marketed to our youth, and these professions are not seen as desirable to the younger generation as part of the in-thing to do career-wise.
"So increased need and diminishing growth of profession are compounding attributes," he suggests.
Johnson also points to observations of a decreasing interest in engineering profession.
"I hear at all the professional societies that 'there are more engineers retiring and not being replaced at the same rate from our schools, so expect a shortage in the near future and high demand,'" he says. Also, "with the loss of transportation dollars in Washington, civil engineers we're losing jobs in this area in large numbers. As a result of having these cutbacks, employers are now going to more contract labor to get these services during peak times, rather than hiring more full-time employees. Thus, longevity with a consulting firm unfortunately is becoming a thing of the past with engineers."
And the availability of ongoing Alaska projects contributes to the demand for current engineers, he says.
"In Alaska, it's an ample supply of new projects coming from both state and federal funds," he says. "With cutbacks in state projects to meet this loss of funds, cutbacks may happen for a short time. As long as federal projects continue, we engineers--like much of the rest of the state's economy--should continue to do OK."
John Bennett, currently the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities chief of right of way for the Northern region (and previously the right-of-way engineering supervisor for Northern region), attributes the demand to both projects and a limited availability of candidates, as well as added licensing requirements. Right-of-way engineers deal with surveys and mapping and, under the Alaska statutes, are licensed as professional land surveyors, as opposed to professional engineers.
"The upswing appears to be related to increased funding for infrastructure projects and a reduced supply of qualified professionals," Bennett says. "There are stricter requirements for licensed professionals. More states, including Alaska, have increased the educational requirements to be eligible for licensing. The university output of surveyors with two- or four year degrees does not appear to have increased significantly."
According to Bennett, in addition to himself, the Northern region right-of-way engineering staff includes seven licensed land surveyors and one land surveyor-in-training. The Central and Southeast regions are configured similarly, he says.
DIFFERENT BY DESIGN
While Dilbert waxes pragmatic about life in a cube, the politics of project management, and intricacies of a career path buried in a corporate pool of placidity, engineering Alaska-style can be anything but placid.
Given extreme rainforest and Arctic climates to consider, limited transportation and logistical infrastructure, the Alaska engineer or surveyor perhaps requires a bit more ingenuity than his/her gentrified cousin to the south. At the same time, an Alaska project may take the engineer outside the cube walls and into a climate of dynamic design on the edge. It's a heady mix for many. And a competitive credential.
Companies like PDC Inc. (www.pdceng.com), with offices in Anchorage and Fairbanks, recognize the influence of an Alaska portfolio and grew to international competitiveness through experience and roots in the Great Land. In particular, PDC grew from the merger of three Alaska-based engineering companies. Nowadays, the company specializes in remote projects, those subject to extreme environments, and those with "impossible" schedules, according to the company's Web site.
The state also differs from the rest of the nation in the existence of an ongoing supply of design projects. From major military expansion to new transportation corridors, utility pipelines, and oil field development--the scope and breadth of any of which top the Richter scale in engineering challenge--Alaska enjoys a relatively steady supply of large scale projects. Enough, apparently, to keep busy the minds of its creative thinkers.
For example, Van Hemert rattles off a veritable laundry list of projects under way at Anchorage based CRW Engineering Group LLC. "We have a major water and sewer expansion project in the Chugiak area; rehabilitation of major trunk sewers in Anchorage located along Chester Creek and Fish Creek; refurbishing of the Old Glenn Highway from Eagle River to Peters Creek; water and sewer projects in a number of villages including Bethel, Napaskiak, Quinhagak, Mekoryuk and Nunapitchuk; road improvements in Anchorage, including Elmore Road for the new South Anchorage High School, Pine Street, Strawberry Road and E. 88th & Spruce; bulk fuel facilities in 12 different rural communities, enhancements to the Coastal Trail and the Campbell Creek trail in Anchorage; and utility improvements in Seward and Valdez," he reports. To answer that need, the company offers a full-time staff of 33, of whom 15 are registered civil engineers and 10 are graduate civil engineers, he says.
Schoder, in turn, offers perspective from the public sector.
"We focus on transportation projects: airports, highways, roads and ports," he says. "Nearly all of Alaska's transportation infrastructure is the result of ADOT&PF projects. Approximately 104 engineers and 30 surveyors are staffed at the Central region of ADOT&PF, including technicians, plus administrative staff."
FERTILE GROUND
With its rich natural resources and boom-and-bust history, Alaska has been fertile ground for engineering opportunity.
"We license six disciplines of engineering in Alaska and a total of 4,163 registered professional engineers," says Nancy Hemenway, with the Alaska Department of Community and Economic Development's Division of Occupational Licensing. "Also, about half our registrants reside outside of Alaska."
She reports the following:
"We offer national exams twice a year--April and October--and have seen steady activity from applicants seeking licensure," she says.
According to the state's database, in civil engineering alone, the board lists some 325 companies licensed to provide some level of engineering service. The list includes mega-giants like San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp. and VECO of Anchorage, to smaller regional operations like Ketchikan's Pool Engineering Inc. and True North Engineering Inc. of Fairbanks.
To answer the various engineering needs of such companies, Alaska's education system serves up a full complement of undergraduate and graduate degrees, all providing that high-latitude-specific detail that is necessary in such a challenging weather, geographic and logistical design environment.
The steady turnaround of a graduating class of Alaska-educated engineers and surveyors each year may become even more important given the governor's push for increased local hire. The governor and state labor officials announced plans late last year to push for increased hiring of Alaskans for jobs previously filled from Outside. While engineering is not specifically mentioned, the governor told the Association of General Contractors that he's looking for a 90 percent Alaska hire rate among local employers. The initiative specifically targets the construction, oil, mining and gas industries, along with obvious seasonal employers like tourism, forestry and the seafood trade. For example, initial state labor statistics released to the media indicate an approximate 25 percent rate of out-of-state hire for the oil industry.
To answer the call for local experts, the University of Alaska Anchorage offers undergraduate degrees in geomatics and mechanical, civil and electrical engineering. In the graduate realm, degrees are available in Arctic, civil and environmental quality engineering, also in a number of affiliated study areas, such as project management, engineering management and others.
And the University of Alaska Fairbanks provides undergraduate degrees in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering; and graduate degrees in civil, electrical, mechanical, Arctic and environmental quality engineering. The university offers a PhD in engineering, as well.
Various professional organizations collectively offer recruitment, training and collective networking opportunities. The Alaska Professional Design Council features membership from a number of other industry-specific groups, including the Alaska Society of Professional Engineers, Alaska Society of Professional Land Surveyors, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Consulting Engineers Council of Alaska. There is also an Alaska chapter of Professional Engineers in Private Practice and the Architecture/ Engineering Marketing Association of Alaska.
"Our professional organizations ... promote attracting young people and skilled technicians into jobs that are challenging, that utilize higher technology and pay well," Maakestad says. "We support the University of Alaska educational system and their geomatics department as much as possible to encourage them to help meet the demand for qualified individuals in our chosen profession.
"We also co-sponsor an Alaskan Surveying and Mapping Conference each year--the 2004 conference will be held Feb. 10 to 13 at the Anchorage Hilton--to provide exposure and educational opportunities for individuals and companies trying to find or further a career in one of the many areas of the surveying and mapping industry," Maakestad says.
What's ahead for those who make their living from design, creativity and ingenuity? No one knows for certain, but with a continued flow of large-scale, Alaska-style projects around the state, engineering and surveying in Alaska--for now--makes good cents.
Licensed to do Business June Dec. in Alaska 2001 2003 Civil Engineers 2,577 2,714 Mechanical Engineers 616 641 Electrical Engineers 535 573 Petroleum Engineers * 97 107 Chemical Engineers 87 97 Mining Engineers 35 31 * Some industries may fall under an exception and are not requried to be licensed. SOURCE: Alaska DCED, December 2003
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| Author: | Bonham, Nicole A. |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Alaska Business Monthly |
| Geographic Code: | 1USA |
| Date: | Feb 1, 2004 |
| Words: | 2268 |
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