Consultant vs Contractor in Geotechnical Engineering: What’s the Difference? – Ep 056

In this episode, we talk to Ryan Coggins, P.E., Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Kiewit Infrastructure Engineers, about his career journey and the difference between a consultant and a contractor in geotechnical engineering. He also talks about the importance of field experience and how it can help grow your engineering career. Engineering Quotes: Here Are Some of the Questions We Ask Ryan: Is there a specific project you worked on that stood out for you in your career? What is the difference between a consultant and a contractor, and what are your experiences in these two different fields in engineering? What about academic experience vs field experience? How important do you deem field experience to be? What does the future hold for the geotechnical industry? What advice would you like to give to young engineers out there? Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed About Consultant vs Contractor in Geotechnical Engineering: What’s the Difference? Sometimes the small projects are more difficult to work on because they are not being built on prime land. Larger projects are a combination of the small tasks put into one. Having been down those roads and understanding that the smaller pieces feed into the bigger projects make you a more proficient engineer. Consultants try to get information about the project site, provide recommendations that meet the needs of the project, and attempt to forecast what the contractor is going to do. The consultant often does not have any involvement in the construction side of the project. A contractor takes generalized reports and tries to break them down into a defined scope, important information, and information that needs reviewing, and applies everything to the design side and ultimately gets the project built. Field experience is important because what you learn in the field, you cannot learn anywhere else. It helps you to understand what the reports are saying which helps you to do your job better. You can better see the bigger picture when reading white papers and technical manuals because you have had experience in the field. You must continue gaining experience in the field to be more proficient in the future. Strive to learn academic things by attending conferences and seminars and reading manuals. Having field experience will help young engineers to find out where their passions lie. As you become more technically confident, the more you will enjoy going to work and dealing with complex geotechnical and contractor issues. Every PE should have field experience in the consulting or contractor side to reinforce what they have been learning in the textbooks. No academic experience can give you what field experience will be in your geotechnical engineering career. In the past few years, the value of geotechnical engineers has come to light. There is a lot of geotechnical engineering work available currently. Continue having a positive mindset and willingness to learn from every project. It is how the younger engineers are going to change the industry in the future. Combining young engineers with technological advancements will make the geotechnical engineering industry an exciting place to be. Early career professionals must work on their networking on LinkedIn and at conferences. Learn from the older professionals’ life and professional experiences. More Details in This Episode… About the Guest: Ryan Coggins, P.E. Ryan graduated from the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School in 1996 and received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Mississippi State University in 2001. His career in the industry began in construction in 1996 working in various crafts and progressed to Field Engineer during college. Upon graduation from MSU,