Cody Swayze
Job Title: Project Manager
Company: Smith Seckman Reid
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Age: 27
Years on the Job: 5
Interests: Traveling with his wife and trying to visit every U.S. national park; snow skiing; hiking; fishing; and enjoying adventures in the outdoors
When Cody Swayze was finishing middle school, he job shadowed one of his current SSR mentors, who was working on the Amway Center for the Orlando Magic. He was intrigued with how the project integrated his interests of math, science, athletics, and design.
“It seemed like a great culmination of my natural interests and strengths, and I was immediately drawn in,” Swayze says.
Born and raised in Nashville, Tenn., he earned his electrical engineering degree from Tennessee Tech University, his LEED AP certification, and his professional engineering license. Currently, he is enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is set to graduate in July 2022.
As a project manager at SSR, he works in the sports and entertainment group, where his time is balanced between managing projects and leading the electrical engineering design. Initially, his role was internally facing, and today, he leads electrical design on projects, manages project teams, and is involved with business development.
“I frequently wear many hats on projects, which opens me up to a wide range of responsibility, but also opportunity,” he says. “I enjoy all aspects of engineering design, project management, and client activities, which always keeps me on my toes.”
He also enjoys the challenge of working on large, high-profile sports projects, which he says can be very complex and have unique obstacles. Currently, he is serving as the lead electrical engineer on San Diego State University’s Snapdragon Stadium. He is also serving as the project manager and electrical engineer of record at Vanderbilt University, the Nashville Soccer Club’s new training facility, an NBA training facility, and several casinos nationwide.
In five to 10 years, he sees himself continuing to learn and grow into a principal at his firm.
“After I complete my MBA, my goal is to continue to push myself to take on more challenging roles on both projects and within the firm to better learn and manage the business,” he says.
