RDK Engineers Blog

Author: James Koloski, Business Development Manager

Every day I pass the Kennedy Library and don't give it much thought.  I've been in the facility dozens of times since it opened, on field trips in school, or more recently for fundraisers.  Last week, my son asked me what the building was when we passed it on the Expressway.  A long conversation followed about the meaning of the structure, how it stored important historical documents and exhibits on President Kennedy's life and service.

Fifty years ago, President Kennedy delivered his inaugural address on a cold day in Washington D.C.  While the overall theme of the speech was strong on foreign policy, the address also laid the groundwork for a renewed sense of work and focus to benefit everyone in the world regardless of race, sex or creed.  People engaged their minds, the Peace Corps was founded, and before the end of the Sixties, man stepped on the face of the moon.  We moved forward.

As professionals in the A/E/C industry, what we do every day helps everyone move forward.  We design world class healthcare facilities.  We build cutting edge research labs.  We furnish universities with revolutionary technology.  All of this work adds up.  It means something to your children, parents, friends and neighbors.  

And we're good at it.  We need to be because everyone in this area is world class, including our competition.  The Academic, Health Care and Research communities here are second to none, and they demand the same from us. 

I'm usually pretty bad at sticking to resolutions so I didn't make any in 2011.  I think it's because too often my mind is caught in the minutia of the day and what’s on my “to-do” list.  I don't give my surroundings that much thought.  A simple question from a six-year-old somehow managed to change that for me. 

Yesterday morning after a meeting at a hospital I didn't blindly rush back to the garage to get my car and drive to my next meeting.  I stopped and looked a little deeper at the design, how it functioned for employees and visitors.  Day-lighting, good wayfinding, all of the seemingly little details added up to a better experience.  It was easy to move forward.

I can't promise that I'll do that every time I walk into a building, but I did think about President Kennedy stuck in traffic on the Expressway this morning.  That's a start.