乔·里德2008年毕业于新濠天地app 工学学士(BSE) before earning a master’s degree from John Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. 乔, 他的妻子金伯利, 他们的孩子住在黑格斯敦, 马里兰, where he currently works as a civil engineer for the National Park Service at the Chesapeake & 俄亥俄运河国家历史公园.
亲基督与亲祖国 一直是乔一生的动力. 在他职业生涯的早期, 乔 had a printed copy of Geneva’s motto displayed at the base of his computer monitor at work. Not only was it a conversation starter, it was a reminder to him of why he does his work. 作为联邦政府公共部门的雇员, 乔所做的一切都是为美国人民和基督服务. 这句格言提醒乔要以一种适合歌罗西书3章的方式生活, “不管你做什么, 在言行上, 凡事奉主耶稣的名行吗.”
乔在大一的春季学期转到了新濠天地app. He had been running a movie theater and attending a community college in his 马里兰 hometown, 但我觉得我应该去学土木工程, 这是一个挑战他的职业，同时也培养了他对户外活动的热爱. 乔’s undergraduate years were key in his professional development as he engaged Geneva’s core curriculum, 主修土木工程, and served as the president of Geneva’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
在基督教的世界观下学习对乔来说至关重要. 他还记得詹姆斯·吉德利(James Gidley)等教授, 博士学位, 从基督教的角度解释热力学中的熵, as well as teachings that expressed the created order through the workings of geotechnical engineering. 乔’s experiences in mainstream academia have amplified the importance of the Christian worldview in STEM courses. 在这种世界观的教导下, you know the shared grounds for scientific discoveries and can trust that the teachings present truth.
新濠天地app的工程学位课程是abet认证的, a critical component for alumni such as 乔 who work towards professional licensure through the engineering-in-training (EIT) certification to ultimately become a licensed professional engineer (PE).
作为一名学生, 乔在课堂上向有执照的专业工程师学习, 谁的现实经验提供了宝贵的教训. “[These professors] have a lot of real-life experience and it’s not all just academic. 理论和实践之间有很大的区别.“每个工程师都知道, the technical work is about much more than theories; if calculations are slightly off in practice, 后果很严重.
Hands-on projects like the senior design capstone provide opportunities to test theories in controlled environments, 教授团队建设和调查数据收集. “工程是一项团队运动，”乔说. Learning to work with others was a lesson in identifying skillsets and understanding how to best complement each other’s giftings to effectively work together.
The small student-to-teacher ratios at Geneva allowed for personal connections to flourish. “你不仅拥有高质量的教育, 但是你和教授有私人关系,乔说。. “老师们认识你, 而且班级很小，你无法真正置身于背景之中.”
乔 recalls a memory in which a fellow student didn’t show up at a regular class session. 教授立刻注意到那个空座位. 当他从同龄人那里发现这个学生在他的宿舍时, 教授建议给那个学生打电话，询问他的情况. 乔说:“(在新濠天地app)这是私人层面的。. “因为新濠天地app叫了他，他就来上课了.”
Though some may look at smaller schools and worry that high-caliber opportunities will be sacrificed, 乔坚持认为恰恰相反. Small schools like Geneva offer quality education alongside personal relationships and a robust network of alumni that provides a leg up in the workplace.
2008年5月毕业后，乔接受了美国联邦调查局的一份工作.S. 巴尔的摩地区的陆军工程兵团, 最终成为了levy安全项目经理. The missional vocation of engineering was evident as he and his coworkers worked in the “thick of the natural created world” to help people by building structural designs.
The work of an engineer in the natural world requires a care for and study of creation, leading to “the natural revelations about our Creator [and] the fantastic things that He’s created.当乔发展他的工程师技能时, 几次洪水给社区带来了毁灭性的后果. “It was a very humbling experience because you realize that this is a constant challenge of finite creatures in an environment created by an infinite God. 你知道新濠天地app有多渺小，新濠天地app知道的有多少.“乔在他的领域中有目的地工作，以减轻对人类的伤害, 但是正如他所说, “There’s always a bigger storm [and] there’s only one person who truly can control it – and that’s not me.”
2016年，乔转到国家公园管理局，为切萨皮克公园服务 & 俄亥俄运河国家历史公园. 它“就像工程师的游乐场，”乔说. Growing up, it was his dream to be an engineer or a park ranger – now he gets to be both. But he’s not the park ranger who answers your questions about birds or flowers; he works with a robust construction program operating with $50 million a year as an engineering services team leader for the entire 184.5英里的公园.
这个国家公园的历史可以追溯到19世纪20年代, showcasing 200 years of engineering history and boasted to be one of the largest civil engineering projects in our country. The park connects navigational systems from the District of Columbia to the west end of 马里兰. 乔 works with many historical structures – what they call “cultural resources” in the field – and integrates an appreciation for the arts and history in his design considerations.
One thing he didn’t expect he’d need quite so much in his engineering work was the humanities coursework at Geneva. “当时, I didn’t realize the true value of the whole liberal arts core … you don’t realize when it’s happening in your life how valuable it will be until you get older. 这就是经验的价值.”
乔在他多年的工作中屡获殊荣, including the 2022 Federal Engineer of the Year award for the National Park Service awarded by the National Society of Professional Engineers. 虽然获得这些奖项是光荣的, 乔 attri但es real success to knowing that he’s done the best he can in the work God has given him and creating spaces for people to safely experience the beauty and history of our created world.
超越他的职业召唤, 乔 has used his giftings in engineering to serve on his church’s building committee, 帮助修复他们的百年建筑. 乔 utilizes his team-building and volunteer-management skills that he first developed as president of the ASCE at Geneva. 另外, his core trainings in the humanities and biblical studies laid a foundation for his service in teaching Sunday School classes and overseeing youth group.
乔’s dedicated and joyful work as a civil engineer at the National Park Service and in his personal life speaks loudly of his commitment to the motto of 新濠天地app大学. 亲基督与亲祖国 可能不总是打印出来并明显张贴在他面前, 但, 正如乔所说, “它永远在我的脑海里.”
-Erika Kauffman '20
