About John
John is a Senior Electrical Designer that has over 28 years of experience in the engineering profession. He attended Triangle Tech after high school and earned an Associates Degree in drafting. Then he attended night classes at Point Park University earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering Technology.
John states, “Since the start of my employment here at Barton I’ve always felt a part of the company, even more so than after 12 years at my last firm. But being part of an ESOP has given me more agency in what I do and in my connection to Barton as a whole.”
Tell us a little bit about your life at home.
I’ve been married to my beautiful wife, Emily, for 13 years. We have a, soon to be 5-year-old son, Enzo, a cat named Lucky, and a dog named Moose. with the exception of a year and a half spent in Washington, DC I’ve lived in western Pennsylvania my whole life. My mom worked at a local hospital for 30 years and my dad was in the PA Air National Guard, working as a crew chief on air refueling tankers for 37 years at the Pittsburgh International Airport. They still live in the same house I grew up in and are both retired.
What was your first job in engineering like?
My first job in engineering was working in the Washington DC office of Cosentini and Associates as a drafter. Cosentini and Associates is an engineering consulting firm based out of New York City. I worked there for 18 months drafting, both hand drafting and AutoCAD. It was a great first experience, working on a variety of projects, and where I first started learning to do electrical design.
What was the first job you got paid to do?
I was a busboy for the department store Woolworth’s Harvest House. The Harvest House was a small restaurant attached to many of the Woolworth’s department stores in malls around the country.
What do you like most about the ESOP?
I like that I’m not a number, I’m not just an employee I own part of this community that we’re building.
What do you love most about your job?
Building the better mousetrap. In our designs, there are a dozen different ways to get the job done. I really enjoy the investigation needed to figure out an existing system on renovation projects and then coming up with innovative ways to complete the design. And when the end-users come up to me and say they really enjoy their new space, that just makes my day.
If I wasn’t an engineer/designer, I’d be…
A photographer.
What’s your hidden talent?
I’m good at intuitively figuring out how mechanical things work/are put together.
When I’m not at work I’m…
Playing Legos with my son or mowing the lawn. Mowing the lawn is my zen.
What’s on your “stranded on a desert island” playlist?
One by Metallica, Guns and Roses – Welcome to the Jungle, Blue Swede’s – Hooked on a Feeling, the entire Star Wars universe soundtrack.
What is the one movie you can watch over and over again?
The Princess Bride.
What’s on your bucket list?
Go to every race track that holds a NASCAR event.