Sr. Vice President, Civil Engineering Services
Mr. Cochrane’s 35 years of experience includes land planning, civil engineering, and site development. His experience also includes managing and designing site developments, utilities, transportation corridors, and airport infrastructure and storm water improvements.
Name one bucket list item:
My wife and I enjoy travel. She has always wanted to visit every continent and I’ve since put that on my bucket list. We are close as we have traveled to Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, North America (we have traveled to Canada, Mexico and 46 of the American States), and South America. Antarctica, here we come – someday.
Name one rewarding/proud moment in your career so far:
Several years ago, I had a graduate engineer transfer into my division that had never become an EIT, though he had taken the Fundamentals of Engineering exam multiple times. The possibility of becoming a Professional Engineer was nothing but a distant dream that he would never achieve in his mind. After working with him for a short time, it became evident that while he was very smart, sometimes he had difficulty expressing himself. Over the next year, I coached him and coaxed my favorite retired professor to spend time with him. He went on the pass both the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Principles and Practice of Engineering Exams (PE) that year. When he opened his letter from the state review board informing him that he was a licensed Professional Engineer in the State, our whole engineering division gathered around and celebrated. He went on to become one of the best engineers I ever worked with and later a good client.
Any person alive or dead you would want to meet and why:
My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is and will be first on my list to meet and most can understand why. But next would be Abraham Lincoln, who was so loved and yet so hated by so many at the most divisive time in our nation’s history. He stated that his primary goal as U.S. President was to preserve the Union, with his personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. While Thomas Jefferson may have penned the phase, “All men are created equal …”, Lincoln was the first president to actually act upon that proclamation.
Why you do what you do:
I enjoy solving problems. As a freshman sitting in an Engineering Principles class, one of my professors made a statement that has stuck with me all my career. He said, “Engineers are problem solvers who make a positive difference to our lives. Are you up to the challenge of being an engineer?” A large national client started referring to my design team as the ‘hard-to-difficult projects’ engineers.