He's worked on a variety of projects for the company, including a contract with Lockheed-Martin. But the work that makes the biggest impression on people he meets is the time he spends in the sewers. The last couple of years I've kind of focused on wastewater treatment. When I talk about it, I may use fancy engineering terms like suspended solids and mixed liquor, these textbook words. With a lot of the work I do, you lose the idea of some glorious environmental engineering job.
Some plants are worse than others.
A lot of the new designs have odor control systems. They actually do a pretty good job of it. After you get out there, you kind of get used to it. You're more worried about getting splattered than what it smells like. You're more or less wearing jeans and boots.