What Two Engineers Can Do
Happy Friday,
There’s never been a better time to be an engineer with a good idea.
A few years ago, Jordan Keeney, P.E., and Ryan Gibeault, P.E., were thirty-something geotechnical engineers at a large consulting firm, working on opposite ends of the country. They became intrigued by the notion of using fiber-optic cable to monitor dams continuously and with remarkable precision.
The technology is new and sensitive enough to detect someone walking across a dam.
There are roughly 95,000 dams in the U.S. Most are more than 50 years old; many are approaching 100. As the dams have aged, people and infrastructure have grown up downstream. The consequences of failure keep getting greater, yet much of dam monitoring remains decidedly old-school.
Jordan and Ryan thought: We can make dams safer.
They pitched the idea to their employer. Well, actually, to mid-level leaders. But it wasn't in the business plan, so the 'organization' wouldn't support it. Jordan and Ryan dove in and learned the technology themselves. Their determination became contagious with clients, and their personal reputations grew.
After two years of trying to convince their employer, they did something much harder.
They quit.
(There’s a lesson in there for employers.)
They founded Dam Safety Services (DSS) and went all-in. That's the part of entrepreneurship we tend to romanticize, but just imagine betting everything you have on yourself.
They immediately got work, and cash eventually started to flow. Then, about a year in, AI began making it possible for non-programmers to build software.
Neither Jordan nor Ryan was a traditional programmer, but both are tech-forward early adopters. Jordan began experimenting with AI-assisted programming tools. After a lot of late nights, DamSafety.io emerged.
DamSafety.io is a dashboard that brings instrumentation, inspections, cameras, photos, earthquake data, and other important dam-safety information together in one place. When an earthquake occurs near a dam, operators know immediately what happened and what the dam itself is telling them. Levees and aqueducts too, BTW...
Something else very cool about this story: some of the industry's leading experts from both consulting and academia are voluntarily contributing significant time and expertise behind the scenes to support and accelerate DSS's mission to make dams safer.
Engineers are really good people.
Today, DSS is installing fiber, flying drones, building software, and teaching other dam professionals. Clients include LADWP, Los Angeles County, SMUD, Tri-Dam Authority, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others. Demand exceeds supply.
Punchline: AI isn't just expanding what's possible for engineering organizations. It's significantly expanding what's possible for individual engineers.
Your expertise matters. Your reputation matters. The trust you've earned matters. Courage certainly matters.
But increasingly, size and funding matter far less.
That's a historic change. Democratized opportunity.
Have a great weekend!
Dave
** I'm an advisor to damsafetyservices.com and infractiv.com. If you're considering a new venture or navigating an established firm, feel free to reach out.
Feedback, blowback, and suggested topics are always welcome: dave@goodnewsfriday.com
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