Part 1: How a process piping designer discovered that plumbing engineering can be…wait for it…fun.
by Anthony J. Curiale, CPD, LEED AP, FASPE
I began writing this article about 10 years ago. I intended to try and generate some motivation for young engineers and engineering students to realize that the piping and plumbing engineering sector of the mechanical engineering trade can have some surprises if you remain steadfast in your desire for satisfaction in your career. Now, as I have just passed 50 years in this business, I decided to polish it up and get it into the hands of those whose lives may be touched by its message.
I once attended a job fair at the University of Wisconsin, Madison with my company’s human resources team to try to recruit some graduate engineers and interns for our multidiscipline consulting firm in New York City. As I spoke to some of the young men and women about why they should consider plumbing engineering as a career path, I could tell by the looks on their faces that I wasn’t blowing wind up their skirts. Simply telling them that “Engineering is fun” and “Buildings are cool” wasn’t packing the punch I knew we needed to market the discipline.
I thought about this for a while and asked, “How can we lure young people if they think all we do is pipe water in and waste out?” That indeed is a good question. It became obvious that we need to get the word out that, under the correct circumstances, you can experience some really rewarding moments in what may seem to be a rather ho-hum career path.
In fact, right now is the best time for young people to consider plumbing engineering as a career, and this is the reason why: When I began writing this, I learned that the average age of plumbing engineers was 53, which meant that much of the workforce would be retiring in about 10 years—a circumstance that I am currently facing. The engineers and designers who entered the fray at that time now have 10 to 15 years of experience under their belts, which is the ideal point in their career: not too rigid because they haven’t seen everything yet, but also flexible enough to face the fast-paced challenges we are experiencing in this first quarter of the 21st century. We know these engineers as the ASPE Young Professionals. So how does ASPE reach out to the next generation of engineers? I believe the answer lies in the stories we have to tell.
Discovering the Appeal of Piping/Plumbing Design
Like many of my peers, I didn’t aspire to be a plumbing engineer as I grew up, and I didn’t even know such a career path existed. I started in the design engineering field earlier than most, conceivably in high school, because I discovered that mechanical drawing was my niche. I therefore majored in and received an Associate’s Degree in Design Drafting in college and immediately entered my first job after graduation in 1972, working for a marine engineering firm.
In the days way before CAD and 3D modeling, we used light tables to coordinate items between decks, and when my mentor showed me a circle on an upper-deck Mylar mat and explained that it was a drain pipe from that deck and that I needed to trace its location onto the next lower mat representing the items on the deck below, I was blown away! I don’t know why it struck me as so germane, but I took to it and my career as a piping/plumbing designer was sealed.
The marine engineering sector didn’t pay very much, and in talking to some of the more senior designers, I learned that other, more lucrative endeavors could be had. I moved to a large design-construct firm and learned about power plant design, reading and interpreting piping and instrument diagrams (P&IDs), how to prepare equipment arrangements, and more importantly how to design piping systems. With my newfound skill set, I made my way through a series of job changes, on both the East and West Coasts of the U.S., mostly designing process, petroleum, and petrochemical refinery piping systems. I loved process piping design and worked on a few very interesting projects, including the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, where I spent three months on the North Slope tundra.
Guess What? Plumbing Engineering Can Be Fun!
In the early 1980s, through a series of circumstances I ended up on the East Coast again with a new daughter, a new home, and no job. I wallowed in the mire of marine engineering again for a while, more affectionately known as “high-end unemployment,” and finally ended up in an A/E firm doing some pharmaceutical and laboratory process and utility piping. A fellow in this firm did the plumbing design for some of the buildings in which the process piping was housed, but I considered that some sort of alchemy, a specialty resigned to the “underground” guys. However, one day I was told that I had to design the drainage systems for one of the plants we were designing. I began laying out what I referred to as “sloped piping” in typical refinery piping style: double-line representation, each fitting, bend, and offset shown and dimensioned with sections, elevations, and details of P-traps connected to the mains in varying configurations. I didn’t like it at all.
The economy was pretty poor back then. We were (and still are) a single-income family, so cash flow had always been sluggish. Therefore, when an opportunity opened up to work for a midsized consulting engineering firm just a few miles from my home, which would significantly reduce my commute expenses, I was willing to make a few changes. The owner of the firm tried to convince me that I was just what he was looking for, but I couldn’t see how since my entire background was in process design and I only had a few months of plumbing design experience (if you even wanted to call it that). Well, the more I argued I was not his man, the more he insisted I was. He finally convinced me to come on board, and I figured this plumbing stuff would not be much of a challenge.
I was soon to learn a harsh lesson; the pipe may be the same hole surrounded by metal, but preparing these drawings was unlike anything I had experienced. There were no P&IDs to follow, there was no process engineer to tell me where to put valves, drains, and instruments, and worst of all, these documents would be scrutinized by some local official who knew nothing of and cared less about refinery design!
I thought I was all that and a bag of chips, but after my first set of objections, I was humbled, broken, and motivated. If I was to continue along this path and succeed in this business, I needed to learn all I could about plumbing design and be the best I could to meet this challenge. How did I accomplish this? I learned of an organization called the American Society of Plumbing Engineers, and one of our local manufacturer reps invited me to my first meeting. I realized there were hundreds of combined years of experience to glean from at these meetings and I attended every one in those days, picking the brains of my colleagues in my endeavor to be the best.
Since that day, my career took me in directions I never knew possible, and what’s more, I even had some fun along the way! I hope that some of the opportunities and challenges illustrated in this series reveal the excitement this career path has offered.
In Part 2, find out how Tony’s career choice leads to challenges…and opportunities.
About the Author
Tony Curiale, CPD, LEED AP, FASPE, began his career as a draftsman in the marine engineering industry fresh out of college. He quickly excelled in piping engineering and design and advanced in the power, petroleum, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical industries. He has 50 years of experience in sustainable design, plumbing, fire protection, marine, power, and process piping covering various domestic and foreign biotech, pharmaceutical, petroleum, petrochemical, marine, and commercial industries. His career has seen him on high-profile projects ranging from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to Avon’s state-of-the-art R&D facility, as well as other challenging assignments like the High Line and World Trade Center Memorial Pavilion in New York City.
During the economic downturn of the mid-1980s, he made a radical career decision to enter the buildings and facilities sector as a plumbing design engineer. He received his Certified in Plumbing Design designation in 1987 and has maintained it ever since.
Mr. Curiale is a Senior Associate at Cosentini Associates in New York City, responsible for the engineering and design of several high-rise buildings and mixed-use facilities. Past President of ASPE’s New Jersey Chapter for three terms, he also is a member of ASPE’s renowned Kenneth G. Wentink College of Fellows.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not the American Society of Plumbing Engineers.
