Rebecca Richardson
Job Title: Commissioning EIT
Company: Smith Seckman Reid
Location: Crestview, Fla.
Age: 27
Years on the Job: 5
Interests: Spending time with friends and family; working in her garden; completing home improvement projects with her husband; and taking their Corvette to the beach
Growing up in Jackson, S.C., Rebecca Richardson loved science and math in middle school. She competed in FIRST Robotics and participated in a pre-engineering partnership program in high school before earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Clemson University.
Richardson says her undergraduate experience solidified her decision to become an electrical engineer and gave her the critical thinking skills and desire to keep learning outside the classroom.
Fresh out of college, she was selected for a position in the commissioning group at SSR. Within her first year of working at SSR, she worked in many different fields. Now, as an electrical commissioning EIT, she alternates from week to week between field work and desk work.
“As I’ve developed my skills and knowledge, I am probably working 75% in the field and 25% in the office,” she says. “I am now responsible for my projects from start to finish, and I am responsible for more projects at one time.”
Currently, her commissioning group is working on a new multipurpose sports arena in middle Tennessee, a prison facility in California, a new patient tower in Boston, and a military health-care campus in Germany.
In five years, she plans to earn a Professional Engineering license and CxA certification and take on more projects and responsibilities at SSR. She is currently studying for these exams and participating in a year of cross-training with the design side of her company.
“I encourage other young professionals starting out to prioritize pursuing a job that you love and a company that aligns with your values that you can see yourself staying with for the rest of your career,” she says.
