2022 Ones to Watch: Jacob Faxon, Project Manager at Helical Drilling

What recent project, transaction or accomplishment are you most proud of? One major benefit in the engineering project management line of work is that success is found by making the clients you work for successful. When things go right, everyone walks away a winner. That being said, one of my recent endeavors I’m most proud of is successfully value engineering a large school project which saved our clients upwards of $2 million on foundation support costs. Having the knowledge and great team behind me to solve problems with unique cost-saving solutions for our clients is really something I enjoy. This project in particular was so rewarding due to many variables and countless hours of conversation with skilled engineers and construction personnel needed to arrive at the right solution

What does it take to succeed in your specific industry? While there are many components that are required for success in this line of work I would say that my core advice for success would be to ask questions early and often and to view projects from the perspective of your clients. Early in our careers it is critical to ask everything we can and document the answers for future reference. Now is the time to gain exposure and experience while risks and responsibilities are lower. The ability to ask the right questions then plays a critical part in working to uncover clients needs, determine their pains, and allow you to help them succeed. To my second point, personnel success comes from the success of your clients and to do that we need to see things from their point of view.

What led you to your current profession? My parents were engineers (Electric and Environmental) and between myself and my three siblings we all ended up in the engineering profession, so it seems to run in the family. I choose Geotechnical engineering as I enjoyed how it was relatively unknown to me at the time and there was also a lot of ambiguity to the work. I found it interesting that you could ask a group of engineers the same question and get many different but still correct answers. Moving into my current side of the profession which deals with project management, sales, and estimating came naturally over the course of college and early professional career. I found that in schooling I flourished at presentations and enjoyed explaining the engineering work to audiences. In the work environment I really took a liking to being able to solve problems and find the best most efficient solution for our customers.

What are the top 3 items on your bucket list?

1. Finish hiking all of New Hampshire’s 4,000 footers
2. Visit and explore Norway
3. Ski the Swiss Alps

What are you doing when you aren’t working? I’m typically out hiking, riding or working on motorcycles, or enjoying just spending time with family, friends, and my dog Ozzy.