Mile High CRE is excited to announce that February’s Mile High Climber is Evan Palmer, senior project engineer with The Beck Group. Mile High Climbers are industry professionals who innovate, inspire, collaborate, and take risks. They are future leaders and change-makers, and they deserve to be celebrated.
As Senior Project Engineer, Evan plays a crucial role at The Beck Group. His responsibilities include maintaining current document sets, as-builts and drawing revisions, tracking material procurement, document control, and tracking and distributing any changes and updates to the project. His attention to detail, adaptability, and diligence has proven immeasurably important to the project’s success. Beck’s Denver office recognizes his passion for and dedication to creating buildings that support and strengthen the communities we live in.
Evan grew up in Niwot, Colorado and received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design from CU Boulder, and a second bachelor’s degree in Construction Management from CSU. He has been in the industry for six years.
1. How did you start your career in the AEC/CRE industry?
I started my career with The Beck Group as a student intern while studying Construction Management at Colorado State University. Upon graduating, I transitioned into a full-time role as a project engineer. My first project with Beck was on the Downtown Denver Element Hotel project, a fully integrated, design-build project in Golden Triangle.
2. What do you enjoy most about your job?
The Beck Group is an integrated firm that offers both design and construction services to our clients. This results in the opportunity to work on cross-disciplinary project teams with both construction and design professionals. The collaboration and integration that goes into our projects has provided me a unique perspective to immerse more into each phase of the project and execute in a way that benefits Beck and our clients from project kick-off through completion. This method of delivery also allows me to expand my skill set and industry knowledge at a much faster rate than I believe I would experience otherwise.
3. What have been some of your favorite/proudest projects or career accomplishments?
I have been fortunate to work on some amazing projects and with even more amazing people in my short career. I have worked in a variety of sectors, from Higher Education and Hospitality to Office and Mixed-Use development, but my current project, One Platte in downtown Denver, has been the highlight of my career thus far. Our project team has worked so well together every step of the way, overcoming obstacles due to the pandemic and other outside factors. The high-end architecture, unique building attributes, and overall footprint that this project encompasses make me very proud to be a part of delivering this project to the Denver community.
4. What have been some of the biggest challenges in your career and how did you overcome them?
The Covid-19 global pandemic presented challenges to the entire world that nobody anticipated but I’m fortunate to say that coming out the other side will make me more adaptable and prepared for challenges in future projects. Market uncertainties, supply chain shortages, and ever-changing regulations upended our day-to-day processes and afforded us the opportunity to re-think how we approach work. In those uncertain times, strong team communication, clearly defined goals, and creative thinking drove our project team to succeed.
5. What advice do you have for an emerging AEC/CRE professional?
My advice to emerging AEC/CRE professionals is to have an eagerness to learn, diversify your perspectives, and expand your network to help yourself, your team, your clients, and your city. It’s so easy to fall stagnant and repetitive, but the built environment demands professionals that can adapt to its multi-faceted and ever evolving nature.
6. What are some of your goals for the future?
As my career continues, I want to be involved in meaningful developments, building spaces that bring the community together, all while maintaining my grasp on being a part of the Design-Build industry that builds outstanding structures and people. Bridging different disciplines within the built environment is something that I am very passionate about. I have a goal to connect future AEC professionals from local college programs into an integrated service-learning program to better our communities and foster the growth of design-build project delivery.
7. What trade associations or non-profits have you actively been involved with throughout your career?
The local DBIA and NAIOP chapters have connected me with some of the best and brightest professionals in the Denver market, while also providing excellent resources for continuing education, industry insights, community impact, and social outings. I look forward to extending my involvement into other local and national associations as pandemic restrictions begin to lift.
In 2021, I was actively involved with the Beck Foundation via our charity golf tournament which benefits Habitat for Humanity and The Salvation Army.
