Pennoni’s Employee Spotlight series gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the talented individuals who make our company thrive. Each month, we highlight a team member’s journey, passion for engineering and innovation, and unique impact at Pennoni.
This month, we’re featuring Justin Duncan, PE, FRSE, associate vice president and office director in our Tallahassee, FL office. With over 15 years of experience in structural engineering, Justin has worked extensively on both large-scale and small-scale projects. He specializes in the design of concrete buildings, steel buildings, masonry buildings, wood-framed buildings, precast concrete, post-tension slab design, and composite steel framing. He received his Bachelor of Science from Florida State University and his M.S in Civil Engineering (structural) from the University of South Florida. He is currently the President of the Florida Structural Engineers Association (FSEA) Big Bend Chapter. Justin opened the Tallahassee office for Pennoni in 2016 with little to no client base but has since built one of the most profitable offices in Region 8 with projects spreading across the entire panhandle of Florida and into Georgia and Alabama.
As Office Director in Tallahassee, how do you approach creating a strong team environment while still staying hands-on with technical work and design?
I pride myself on creating an environment where my staff enjoys working every day. After all our work is done for the week, early Friday afternoon tee times at the local country club with the staff are not uncommon. I wouldn’t trade our current staff in Tallahassee for any other staff in the company and I have a lot of faith in the work they produce. Our staff’s experience is very diverse, from interns that are still trying to figure out what they want to do in their career to a senior engineer who has been in the business for 40+ years. I stay involved with every project in the office and I review everything that goes out the door. This process allows our folks to manage each project they’re working on and establishes a sense of pride in the final product that gets built.
With such a wide variety of structural projects under your belt, is there one that stands out as especially memorable or meaningful to you, and what made it special?
The most memorable project I’ve worked on thus far in my career is the new Helmar and Enole Nielsen Center for Visual Art sits in the heart of Eckerd College’s campus in St. Petersburg, FL. The 33,000-square-foot facility was broken into three separate buildings adjoined with expansion joints. The main section of the building is two-stories and consists of post-tensioned concrete slabs supported by concrete columns and shear walls. The exterior is clad with non-loadbearing masonry in-fill walls that are reinforced to resist the high wind pressures required for a coastal building in Florida. The building bears on conventional spread footing foundations but vibro-replacement had to be used to densify loose sands that were found deep underground during geotechnical testing. The adjoining building sections are one-story and framed with sloped hollow core precast planks on reinforced masonry walls. What makes this project special is it received two American Institute of Architects (AIA) awards in Maryland, including AIA Excellence in Design Award and AIA Baltimore Excellence in Design Award. You can read the complete project write-up written by Mike McCarthy, PE in March 2020.
You’re the president of the FSEA Big Bend Chapter. What has being involved in a professional organization like FSEA added to your career, and what would you say to encourage others to get involved?
Being the President of the FSEA Big Bend Chapter has been a great experience both for my career and personally. I chose a career in structural engineering because it’s rewarding to make other people’s ideas come to life. Sometimes what begins as a napkin sketch turns into a new structure that brings communities together and even protects/shelters people in Florida during hurricane events. Being the President of FSEA allows me to share those experiences with the new generation of structural engineers and helps mold the young talent that will continue to design structures that will stand the test of time. I encourage all engineers to get involved in local organizations and make a difference in their communities. The relationships created in these organizations will sometimes last well beyond the duration of your professional career.
Technology plays a big role in structural design—what’s one tool or innovation you rely on that makes your job easier or more effective?
From a structural engineering standpoint, the 3D finite element design software we use is a tool that allows us to design efficiently without redundancy or over design which makes for a cost-effective structure. These powerful design tools allow us to be competitive when setting fees, flexible during client or owner changes, and precise with the overall structural design. Although powerful, it’s very important to understand what the black box is doing once you hit the “design” button. For that reason, I require all my young engineers to produce hand calculations for the design, then run the program, then review any discrepancies between the two if there is a difference in the outputs. There are times when there is a difference between the two but it’s not the hand calculation that’s wrong. You should always have an idea of what the design will be before you put pen to paper or use one of our design programs.
What do you think makes Pennoni a place where engineers can thrive, especially in leadership roles like yours?
I can’t say enough good things about working at Pennoni. I started off my career with McCarthy and Associates in Clearwater, and we were acquired by Pennoni in 2016. The transition was relatively seamless and the people at Pennoni made us feel like family right off the bat. Coming from a small firm I didn’t know what to expect joining a new firm that was roughly 60 times our size. At my first offsite corporate meeting I ended up sitting right next to Chuck Pennoni as we ate dinner. Needless to say, after the conversations Mr. Pennoni and I had that night, I knew I was in the right place. I became Office Director and opened the Tallahassee office when I was 30 years old. If you have the desire and willingness to put in the effort to be the best you can be, there are no limits to what you can accomplish in your career with Pennoni. Through the ESOP we are all owners of the company and from Mr. Pennoni down to the interns, it truly feels that way.