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Employment : MDT Employees
 Kevin Mueller Published: September 13, 2006 Meet Kevin Mueller, Designer, family man, and outdoor enthusiast. Born and raised in Butte, Kevin graduated with a drafting degree from the Montana College of Technology. When Kevin isn't working, you'll find him enjoying the great outdoors with his wife and two daughters, and his friends. While still a student, Kevin decided he wanted to be doing something interesting and challenging when he graduated. Fortunately for Kevin—and for us—that's just how he describes the work he is doing at MDT. "This work is always changing...I am always learning something new," he says earnestly. Kevin designs road plans for the department. His work starts after the surveyor's work is done. "I use CADD to develop the new plans and other software to provide cost estimates, " he reports. The projects Kevin is assigned vary from new construction, to repairs, to overlays. Once Kevin's work is finished and reviewed, his plans are sent out for bid by contractors. We asked Kevin to describe a typical day in the life of a designer. "Each of the projects I work on take several weeks to complete, so each day is different." For each project Kevin creates a plan sheet, detail sheet, summary frame, title sheet, and various other drawings and reports. Each document takes many hours to complete. When the designs are done, Kevin creates a contract plans book and a cost estimate which are used to obtain bids from contractors. Strong math skills and a solid understanding of drafting techniques are necessary to do this kind of work. "I work with CADD and other software, so computes knowledge is very important" says Mueller. Soft skills are also necessary. "You have to be detail oriented to prevent mistakes. You also have to work well with your co-workers because there are so many people involved in every project we work on," he finishes. What does Kevin like best about being a designer at MDT? For starters, he mentions the variety. "There is a lot of variety in what I do," he says simply. He also appreciates the opportunities he has to learn new things. But it's obvious to us, one of the highlights of the job is satisfaction Kevin feels when a project is done. "It's kind of cool to drive down a highway and see how things turned out after developing the plans" he says with a smile. It is indeed, Kevin. Thank you! |
