Coming from a family with telecom, lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and rocket propulsion engineers, breaking, building, fixing and improving things is something Marshal Goodpoet, 34, has always been encouraged to do. “I have been fabbing and fixing Jeeps, motorcycles, tractors, engines, drivetrains, door frames, trampolines—anything I can get my hands on—my whole life,” he said.
Through college, Goodpoet was a bus driver and then a machinist doing research and development and production for a small robotics company for three years. He took strongly to structures, thermo and fluid dynamics and machine design while in school. “I have a strong appreciation for the force, work, power and craftsmanship it takes to get matter arranged as machinery to do a job,” he said. Out of college, Goodpoet did not want to get locked to a computer desk, so he sought out a hands-on mechanical engineer position, which led him to a machine shop in Wisconsin.
Working in the industry, Goodpoet has found teaching and learning to be the most rewarding. “Turns out, there’s plenty I don’t know. I may never know it all, and what we’re doing will always take a team. It has been cool to realize I’m no longer new and that I have a lot to give the next new guys,” he said. For those considering a career in the industry, he offers this advice: “Do real, paying craft/maker work throughout your education to complement your studies and teach you the industry in context. Keep striving to understand the balance between production versus perfection.”
As for the future, Goodpoet is most excited for the opportunities to reduce energy consumption by right-rating existing equipment to their specific service. “They’ll all be fun custom projects that require the vision to spot and undertake, a considerate designer’s analysis, a coordinated team’s efforts to execute and some unexpected problem solving,” he said.
Goodpoet moved back to his home state of Colorado, pivoted from “all-field-work-all-the-time” and returned to shop work close to home, an accomplishment he’s proud of. “I have clawed back a life outside of work, without scrapping my career trajectory! Now between work and life, they each make the other worth it,” he said.
What led you to specialize in this particular area within the industry?
I've tried not to specialize but to be a well-rounded generalist. I've come up through dis/assembly, project/production engineering, field testing and test loop operation. I strive to stay proficient with machine tools. I've done thousands of hours, years of field service doing mostly big BB5 overhauls, BFP installs, condensate pumps and circ water pumps in power generation, mostly domestically but also overseas. For now, I've taken all this customer-facing field experience back to the shop to synthesize information and make good plans with experienced understanding of what's important and what's likely to go right/wrong depending on comms with each stakeholder across the individual project.
These days, I suppose my "particular area" of specialization (where my skills are used) is production engineering of pump repairs, rerates and original equipment. I am motivated by a compulsion not to misguide or wase the efforts of my talented tradespeople. It's my job to synthesize a working plan that gives everyone from client, salesman, GM, vendors, machinists, quality, mechanics and installers what they need to succeed. I'm just trying to take care of my flock, ensure their good work only needs once and then makes it out into the world to do work for society.
What is one thing you wish you'd known before getting into the industry?
When you're good at your job and in-demand, you might end up working some 3,000-hour years, and that will be hard on the people that love you and want you close by. That said, years of field service will keep you on the steepest part of the learning curve for longer, you'll be at the tip of the spear making and vetting the game time critical path decisions that make it into the product and you'll interact with the best and the brightest relevant experts all your clients have available.
What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of your role?
Team building and communication in a new team, across legacy corporate and personal cultures, language barriers and varying levels of diverse experience. It is a hard and humbling thing to start over with a new company to form, storm and norm on your way to performing as a new team. I've had to re-earn the clout I was previously accustomed to.
What do you do to make sure you're continuing your education/training?
I am on the county Search and Rescue team and regularly hear leadership, teamwork and technical/medical lectures from the exceptional and high-achieving volunteer community. It's all amazingly relevant to any team undertaking meaningful work. Mostly in the pump industry, it has all been OJT, so I keep going to work, being open minded and observant and keep watching, listening and advocating for a better way. I don't need to know everything myself, I just need to know who on my team is the right person to ask. If there's a certification for it, someone else probably has it and I can ask them.
Have you had a mentor(s) who influenced your career development?
Jeff Dupras taught me early how to figure the difference between what's important and what is not and how to advocate for what's right among competing stakeholder opinions.
How do you typically spend your time outside of work?
I like to garden and I like to get out into the wilderness frequently. I enjoy wrenching, projects around the house and hanging out with my family.