Employee Spotlight – Don Doty

Don Doty joined Nexus PMG this March as a Senior Project Engineer with a long career focused on piping design. Don has already enjoyed a long and varied career, beginning with his work with Parsons Corporation in Pasadena, California.  While with Parsons, Don moved to Atlanta in 1987, then to Washington where he worked in the oil refinery field before returning back to Atlanta 8 years later.  In 2000, Don moved to the Spartanburg, South Carolina office for a company which was recently acquired by Jacobs Engineering.  Don has a very broad experience in the EPC industry having served as a project engineer, project manager and piping department manager during his career. 

Recently, Don was a key project resource for a client who changed engineering companies during the development phase of their project. Don decided to see this particular project through and changed companies alongside the client. After seeing his work completed on this long-term project, Don joined the team at Nexus PMG. 

While Don has spent most of his career focused on the design and construction of chemical plants and refineries, he is excited to join Nexus PMG and bring his skillset to the sustainability and renewable focused marketplace.  

Don believes that most engineering can be very structured work, while his specialty in piping design is more like architecture, as it requires a little more of an artistic focus. Don points out, “Engineers like to look at small pieces and how those pieces work together, while designers and architects also use an artistic approach.” Don finds it rewarding seeing his projects in larger scale when observing a final constructed project. He describes the difference between building your work on paper and then seeing it come to fruition in the building process.  

“When you design something you naturally want to walk through to see the construction process. Viewing the final product allows you to see the things you did right or the things you’d do differently next time.” 

One of the larger projects Don has worked on was a green-field carbon fiber plant, which spent 5 years in engineering and construction. He remembers transitioning from the engineering team to the construction team and seeing the project through to construction completion. He adds, “When you design something you naturally want to walk through to see the construction process. Viewing the final product allows you to see the things you did right or the things you’d do differently next time.” 

Don has enjoyed the atmosphere at Nexus PMG and finds it refreshing to be in an environment where people have freedom to make decisions and bring new ideas to the table. He acknowledges that the industry is going through significant changes, which often prevents newcomers to the industry from being exposed to the same things they may have been exposed to in the past. His advice to young professionals entering the industry is to be open to learning any and all aspects of a project. He explains, “If you do a certain task in a project over and over, you will become really good at that task, but you still won’t truly understand how you get the final product.” It is important to learn not only your job, but also how others do their jobs. Each job is relevant to completing a large project. 

Don has been a valued member of the industry for many years and has maintained relationships with people he’s worked with since the very beginning. He can readily explain how good it feels having lasting friendships and connections that began 40 years ago. He understands how important it is keeping in contact with people and building good relationships. Nexus PMG welcomes Don and looks forward to adding friendships and community within our team. 

Join Nexus PMG in our mission to build a better world with waste-to-value projects.

Taylor Rivers
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