Engineering the Built Environment: Emily Wong on Designing with Sustainability and Creativity

Emily Wong didn’t just find a job after graduation. She found a path that aligned her technical skills with her passion for sustainability. Now a mechanical associate engineer at McKinstry, Emily first discovered the company while attending the Society of Women Engineers National Conference as a student at the Colorado School of Mines. Drawn to McKinstry’s focus on hands-on engineering and sustainable solutions, she joined the company as a two-year intern before coming on full time as part of the mechanical engineering team.

“I’ve always been a hands-on person and like to tinker, so mechanical engineering was a broad area that kept a lot of options open when I didn’t know what I wanted to do yet,” said Emily. “I was super interested in sustainability and loved everything that McKinstry was doing.”

From the start, sustainability has played a huge role in Emily’s career. With her first project being a large LEED project, Emily was motivated to achieve her LEED accreditation. From there, she moved from new construction to focus on energy projects in existing buildings where her designs guarantee energy savings. “These projects are for public clients who need help making meaningful upgrades with constrained budgets,” said Emily.

Emily recently started her next journey of managing a team. With a strong passion for seeing others grow and support them in individual ways, Emily has taken on this new phase with excitement and a drive to see others succeed.

“Teaching, coaching and setting people up for success is something I love. It’s incredibly rewarding,.” said Emily

Looking ahead, Emily sees her future at McKinstry centered on improving the built environment through sustainable solutions and work aligned with her passions. Supported by her colleagues and guided by the belief that great engineering balances deep expertise with creativity, she is excited about where her career is headed and the impact her engineering work will continue to have at McKinstry.

“We pride ourselves on thinking outside the box and being transparent in how we work,” said Emily. “There’s significant untapped potential in involving engineering more broadly. We’re critical thinkers and can contribute in ways that aren’t always fully leveraged.”