Meet Brady Darrough, a mechanical engineer II at Huffman Engineering, Inc (www.huffmaneng.com).
Tell us a little about your business. – Huffman Engineering, Inc. provides quality custom design control systems for various applications. We work in sectors spanning from manufacturing, pharmaceutical and food and beverage work to handling of water and wastewater and electrical utility systems.What we really do is we read between the lines of what people ask for in their control systems to provide what they want – our tag line is Making Ideas Work. That’s what we do – make other people’s ideas work.
How did you get started in the business? – People always said I’d be good at engineering. I was good at math and science and although I didn’t have much exposure to engineering through my immediate family, I wanted to understand what I had previously had no exposure to. I liked the atmosphere, the smaller company feel and I got to play with the toys. Most engineers don’t actually get to touch their work. They might design or do the documentation, but we get to do the design, programming and the installation and see the ideas come to life.
What has been your most important achievement professionally? – I’m most proud of the complex programming projects I’ve gotten to do. For me it’s like a complicated logic puzzle that may stump you in the beginning, but challenges you to think outside of the box and really figure out a workable solution. It’s always hard to decode when you don’t know the game you’re playing, but that’s also a little of the fun of it. I used to play logic games and puzzles a lot in my free time.
Tell us a little about your family. – I’ve been married to my wife Hailey for five and a half years. We have remained close with our families, often sharing meals with them on a weekly basis. I have two sisters, a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law.
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? – I enjoy a round of disc golf in one of the local parks, sailing around Branched Oak Lake or going for a run/bike ride, preferably sharing each with family and friends.
Who inspires you? – Personally, I am inspired by all my friends and family. Professionally, I draw inspiration from past teachers, employers, co-workers and our customers. I worked for my dad through high school and college, where I first developed my work discipline. My engineering professor at Union College, Dr. Seth McNeill, was the one who first inspired me in the engineering field to treat anything and everything and everything as an opportunity to learn. Now here at Huffman, I am inspired by many of my coworkers. In the short time I’ve been here, people like Steve Beck, Keith Mandachit, Jim Fricke, Matt Johnson, Bernie Lyons and Don Glatt have all inspired me in their work ethics, technical and nontechnical experience and their willingness to pass that knowledge on to make the others here at Huffman successful.
What is your favorite quote or the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – “Never Let the Fear of Striking Out Get in the Way” – Babe Ruth.
What is your favorite movie? – The Count of Monte Cristo.
If you could have dinner with one famous person from the past or present, who would it be? – Probably DaVinci just because of all of his innovation or maybe an early airplane designer.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – (402) 464-6823; bdarrough@huffmaneng.com; www.huffmaneng.com.