Mark Daniels
Job Title: Estimator/Project Engineer
Company: Shaw Electric Co.
Location: Novi, Mich.
Age: 27
Years on the Job: 6
Interests: Weightlifting, running, autocross, and attending Michigan State University football tailgates
Alife-long interest in construction and engineering attracted Mark Daniels to the construction management program at Michigan State University (MSU). While earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, he served as an intern and then as a full-time project engineer at Shaw Electric Co.
“I felt tremendously well prepared for the project management and estimating side of things from my time at MSU,” he says. “Electrical was totally new to me, so starting small as an intern and then as a project engineer helped me to learn the trade little by little.”
He says his training has been top-notch and put him in a position to succeed.
“I believe that work ethic is everything, and you get out what you put in,” he says.
As a project manager, his day consists of interacting with foremen, overcoming challenges, managing material procurement and subcontractors, reviewing drawings, and estimating new work.
“My favorite part is working with our team to find a solution to a particular challenge and seeing that resolution,” he says. “The most challenging parts are dealing with things out of our control like material supply chain issues and labor shortages.”
Currently, he is working on the McLaren Greater Lansing Replacement Hospital Project, a 10-story, 500,000-sq-ft hospital project. On this job, he is overseeing power distribution, mechanical tie-in, operating and specialty treatment rooms, fire alarms, and commissioning.
In the future, he hopes to be in a senior leadership position where he can make an impact on some of his biggest and most important projects. To get to this point, he plans to continue working hard, using new technology, and leveraging his construction management background.
“I think technology is tremendously important, and proper adaptation will allow electrical contractors to thrive,” he says.
