In good spirits

When I walked into Professor Donald Chase’s hydraulics class my junior year at UD, I didn’t quite grasp how the trajectory of my future was about to change.

As a kid growing up in Dayton, I knew I wanted to be an engineer; I loved building, designing, taking things apart and putting them back together. I went to high school just down the road from UD’s campus, at Chaminade Julienne, so I feel like I’ve known UD my whole life. But when I arrived on campus, I had a tough time. I knew what I liked but didn’t know what I wanted.

Then I met Dr. Chase, who would have a major influence on my academic and professional career. I had just switched my major from mechanical to civil engineering, but I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. As an expert in fluid mechanics (the study of fluid behavior at rest and in motion), his passion fueled my interest. He taught me how to analyze problems and develop solutions. 

He also had high expectations of his students. He expected us to do the work and
be prepared. When I wasn’t, he knew it and I knew it. He made me a more diligent student and, in the end, a better engineer. I took as many of his classes as I could until my graduation
in 2002. 

My first job was in civil and environmental design. I gained experience with piping design and open-channel hydraulics, but I didn’t always get to see projects through to construction. It was close to what I wanted to do but wasn’t quite “it.”

Then, I was hired at the Boston Beer Co., the parent company of Sam Adams. I spent the next decade designing and managing the installation of brewing equipment, fermentation cellars, sanitary process piping systems and facility expansions. 

It was an engineer’s dream. 

Designing new production elements to make great whiskey might not be exactly what Dr. Chase had in mind when he spoke about fluid mechanics in class, but that’s OK. I remember him being a beer guy anyway. 

Sometimes, we’d get a problem on Monday, spend a few days designing and then install the solution by week’s end. 

While at Boston Beer, I gained experience in other aspects of the beverage business — packaging system design, operations and management. This led me to New Riff Distilling, an independently owned whiskey distillery in Newport, Kentucky.

Last fall, I was named chief operating officer, responsible for all aspects of operations, supply chain, compliance, engineering, maintenance and safety. I work with the most passionate, talented and kind people in the industry. 

Designing new production elements to make great whiskey might not be exactly what Dr. Chase had in mind when he spoke about fluid mechanics in class, but that’s OK. I remember him being a beer guy anyway. 

As told to Nicole L. Craw

Illustration by Zachary Ghaderi