From Jerrod Sieverding, April 2014:

I was born and raised in Bellevue, IA and graduated from Marquette High School in 1996.  After high school, I attended and graduated from Iowa State University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. During my time at ISU I was a student member of the ASHRAE chapter. Additionally, I had the opportunity to have several internships which gave me insight into drafting, HVAC, and engineering fields which appealed to my engineering interests.

Upon graduation from ISU, I moved to Des Moines and worked for an HVAC consulting engineering firm based in West Des Moines, Pulley & Associates, which eventually became part of Durrant Group. Also during this time, I worked in conjunction with Brooks Borg Skiles in downtown Des Moines. The connections into the central Iowa engineering community were facilitated by my involvement with the local ASHRAE chapter, which I joined in 2000.  In 2003, my career took me to Data Power Technology, now known as DPT Group, where I joined the organization as an outside sales engineer. In conjunction with applying my engineering background, I was able to identify and provide system solutions to solve unique client problems.

During my career I have had the opportunity to serve in several committee positions, worked through the chair positions, and had the opportunity to co-chair, along with Mark Allen, a CRC for our chapter. Along the way, a great group of fellow engineering community members have been involved during my time with the chapter. There has always been a great camaraderie within the Central Iowa Chapter and this atmosphere has made the meetings, board events, and chapter planning activities fun and very easy to accomplish as a group. One of my fondest memories serving within the chapter was our CRC event during that time. We had ample volunteers to chair and serve on committees which in turn made the event both wildly successful and very easy to facilitate.

I highly encourage future members of the Central Iowa Chapter to get involved with the local chapter and find opportunities to serve on committees and chair positions. Additionally, our membership should look for opportunities to meet with and provide internship opportunities to the local student chapter. This outreach will continue to fuel and grow our local engineering community and open opportunities into our industry for future aspiring engineers.