Post by: Ryan Kerr
We often talk about what we do for work, but not why we do it. So, here is the ‘why’ I work in the land development engineering space, and specifically at DSEL.
Working at DSEL in the land development engineering space, with the best Clients in the industry, is extremely rewarding. I get to do everything I love about engineering: creativity, innovation, problem-solving, speed, precision, and nothing more.
Creativity.
I grew up on puzzles, strategy games, and Lego ™. Nerd, I get it. All of these pastimes require a certain level of creativity. I thrive in creative environments and the fulfillment of solving problems. This attracted me to engineering as a profession.
Early in my engineering career, I learned what I do not like about the job – drafting all those creative solutions in my head, onto paper. Boring!
DSEL harnesses the creativity of engineers and couples it with customized proprietary software to deliver premium solutions for our Clients. DSEL has developed its own automation software that allows us to explore and analyze many creative solutions with a fraction of the manual drafting, and in a fraction of the time.
This is a HUGE win on two fronts.
- DSEL engineers (myself included) are able to stay in the creative space of land development engineering, and not be burdened with monotonous drafting tasks. This keeps our engineers focussed on finding the best outcome for our Clients, on their schedule.
- Our Clients benefit by receiving solutions that have been optimized to their key interests. DSEL solutions are not burdened by lack of time/will/energy to continue exploring in the creative space, and the drafting that follows. We pour everything we have into the best outcome for our Clients. We leave no stone unturned trying to maximize our Clients experience, upside, and results.
At DSEL we use proprietary automation software to support creativity. I love this creative space – it’s puzzles, strategy games, and LegoTM all rolled into one. I am proud of the solutions born from this creativity. It’s what keeps me in love engineering: solving the problem, contributing to our clients success, and being part of the creative DSEL ecosystem.
Creativity starts at the ground level when the community plan is being shaped, and I enjoy working closely with our Client partners to understand their key interests, problem solving, and delivering custom solutions early in the process. I love knowing that we have contributed to setting the Clients project, and the community, up for success.
Innovation.
Innovation is a pillar of engineering. I am excited to work at a company that is continuously innovating. When we encounter a challenge at DSEL – we don’t just want to solve a singular challenge – we want to solve it in way that it never challenges us again. Let me give you an example.
We produce thousands of engineering drawings a year that must be reviewed by municipal stakeholders – every drawing is reviewed, thousands, manually! The municipal review process is a time consuming challenge that impacts land development industry. This is a real challenge!
Why do the same thing, over and over again, when you know it takes a long time – every time? Isn’t that insanity? Innovate and the solve the challenge once and for all – enter Easy Check Drawings.
Easy Check Drawings is a DSEL innovation – developed with our clients schedules, and municipal stakeholders in mind. The Easy Check Drawing provide intuitive and easy to understand .pdf drawings to aid in reviewing our engineering design.
Tired ofsearching the drawings for all the hydrants, highlighting those hydrants, and manually checking the spacing with a scale to confirm conformance with standards? Stop the searching. Open the Easy Check Drawings, and with the click of a button have all the hydrants highlighted for you and the spacing dimensioned. Think of the time savings! This same click of a button applies to most design elements that municipal stakeholders check – accelerating their ability to review our plans, and accelerating our Clients project schedules. Solve the challenge – so it doesn’t arise again. Use the Easy Check drawings – save time – it’s that simple.
If we don’t try something new, how can we expect a different outcome? In my opinion, the Easy Check Drawings are a revolutionary innovation in the land development engineering sector – tackling a real challenge that DSEL and our Clients face everyday and crushing it. I love this type of innovation at DSEL, and can’t wait to see where we go next.
Speed.
Engineering is not a race, but it needn’t be slow. Time is money, and we understand the critical nature of schedule to our clients.
When I started at DSEL 14 years ago, we completed first submission subdivision design in 4 weeks. At the time, a 4 week delivery schedule was like the Donovan Bailey 100 m Olympic record time of 9.84 seconds – very fast! I vividly remember the frantic drawing folding in an assembly line on Friday afternoon, and personally driving them into the municipality to get them in before 4 pm; to ensure our 4 week benchmark was achieved. It is a right of passage at DSEL – rolling up are sleeves, all hands on deck, and delivering on our 4 week schedule for our Clients.
By today’s standards, 4 weeks is still ahead of the curve. However, like Donovan’s record – it was meant to be broken 
. DSEL has continued to innovate and push the bar higher. We now can complete that same first submission in 10 days!
I love being part of a leadership team and company that views the 100 m Olympic-record time as a challenge, not an impossibility. I am as competitive as they come, and don’t want to settle for yesterday’s record.
Closing.
If you are a land developer and interested in learning more – please reach out. Alternatively, if you are skeptical and don’t believe a 10 Day Subdivision detailed design is possible, or that Easy Check Drawings seem too good to be true – let us show you! We would be happy to present for you what we’ve been working on – and you decide for yourself. If you can’t tell already, we are proud of our developments, and think the industry is overdue for a shake-up.
If you are an engineer, and believe you are a fit for DSEL’s innovative and creative environment, or simply relate to the above – please see our available job postings. More creative minds will yield more creative solutions.
Lastly, stay tuned for Part 2 – if you thought I could condense everything I love about land development engineering into a single post, you are sadly mistaken.
About the Author: Ryan Kerr
I am the Project Administration Department Manager, and a shareholder at DSEL. My role as PADM is to provide strategic direction for community-scale projects, mentor staff, and grow the business. I am a highly competitive individual with a passion for solving problems, puzzles, strategy games, building things, and being creative. My role at DSEL allows me to tap into what I love most about engineering, and nothing more. My personal life is full to the brim with four children, and their very active lifestyles; when I am using MYFlex-36 or on weekend, you can find me at the local rink or field.