Water is the lifeblood of our society, underpinning every aspect of daily life, from the water we drink to the systems that manage our wastewater and enable water reuse. The water industry is crucial for ensuring the availability and quality of this vital resource. Engineers play a pivotal role in designing, building, and maintaining the infrastructure that supports our nation's water needs, addressing challenges that are not only technical but also social, economic, and political. As our world faces increasing pressures from population growth, climate change, and resource scarcity, the need for innovative, resilient solutions in the water sector has never been more critical.
In this context, Jing Liao emerges as a dedicated engineer who is deeply committed to addressing these complex water challenges. Her journey, marked by significant contributions to high-profile projects across the United States, reflects her passion for ensuring safe, sustainable water solutions. Jing's diverse experience and collaborative approach position her as a key figure in the ongoing effort to secure our water future. Her passion for solving the water crisis was ignited during her travel to Malawi with Engineers Without Borders. Recognizing that life depends on water, she understands that water issues are not solely engineering problems but also encompass social, economic, and political dimensions. Water is integral to civilization, influencing every aspect of human existence.
To contribute to the solution, Jing moved to the western United States, driven by a love for understanding complex water challenges and system dynamics. She acknowledges the ever-changing nature of the world, where solutions must evolve to remain effective. By comprehending situations from multiple perspectives, she aims to develop resilient and innovative solutions while empowering others. Her ultimate goal is to create solutions that positively impact the world. Throughout her career, Jing Liao has had the privilege of working with several highly-ranked global consulting and construction companies in the water industry on high-profile projects addressing critical and complex infrastructure needs. She has worked on projects in 21 different U.S. states, supporting municipal, federal, tribal, and private clients where she has had the opportunity to live in various locations, learning about local water challenges, engaging with diverse cultures, and exploring America's wonders.
Jing offers a unique perspective from her experience working for both design firms and a construction company. She hopes to lead and facilitate collaborative and innovative solutions by understanding situations from multiple perspectives. Her project background spans the entire lifecycle, from permitting, detailed design, and construction operation to material procurement, vendor coordination, and startup for drinking water, wastewater, and water reuse treatment plants. Her interest lies in optimizing the project delivery process to maintain quality and team morale while delivering work efficiently. She is particularly passionate about the design-build model, where engineers and contractors collaborate as a unified team, sharing a vision of delivering quality projects that positively impact communities and developing creative solutions to minimize shared risks. To dive deeper into Jing's contributions to the industry and vision for the future of water infrastructure, we asked her some questions:
1. What is your main area of expertise within the water industry?
My main area of expertise is the design-build collaborative delivery method for drinking, wastewater, and water reuse treatment facilities. The traditional delivery method is called design-bid-build. An engineering firm would develop the drawings to address a client's needs. Then, it would go out to bid amongst the construction companies. With public projects, the lowest bidder wins the work. There are many challenges with this approach mostly due to the unforeseen conditions between what is in the design drawings vs. when constructing in the field. This gap often leads to conflict and even litigation between the engineer and the contractor, each pointing fingers at each other. This unavoidable conflict often causes project delays and thus increases the budget. The design-build delivery method is a collaborative approach where the engineering firm and the construction company form one team at the beginning of the project. Therefore, the design-build team shares in the risk of unforeseen conditions which forces them to develop creative and innovative solutions to keep the project on time and under budget.
2. What is your current job title, and what do you do on a day-to-day basis?
My current job title is Water/Waste Design Engineer. On a day-to-day basis, I develop detailed design drawings for our Design-Build projects. I work closely with our construction team, subcontractors, equipment vendors, and stakeholders for constructability and value engineering reviews. I help lead and coordinate the multi-disciplinary team to make sure we are delivery a quality project on time and under budget.
3. Can you give some details about your upbringing, background, and what inspired you to do what you do today?
I was fortunate to participate in a Peace Corp trip to the Kamangilira village of Malawi, which aimed to fulfill the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals. My service project was performing water quality analysis on the closed and open wells in the village. The purpose of the project was to inform potential investors to build more closed wells by showing concrete data through gathering results for E. coli/Coliform count, Bacteria count, Turbidity test, Total dissolved solids Conductivity test, pH test, Temperature test, Dissolved oxygen test. The results showed that closed wells had better water quality than open wells. My favorite part of the experience was connecting with the kids in the village. Whenever I went to a well, I had a train of kids who followed me, and I taught them how to use the various equipment. After building the relationships and understanding the results of the test, I became passionate about solving the water crisis as I realized water touches every element of life and our society.
4. What are some of the skills you mastered in your job that very few people have?
The main skills that I have mastered are that I can perform both the technical aspects of my job while connecting with people. Many engineers have challenges communicating and bringing a business sense into the projects. I uniquely have both. On the technical aspects, I am detailed, efficient, and strategic. I can dive into the weeds to understand the technical issues and to develop solutions from different perspectives. I also have a strong work ethic to do the necessary research, calculations, and review to understand the root issues. I am also efficient in the way I work as I create processes and tools to help me work faster while maintaining the same level of quality. I can also step back and understand the big picture of thinking strategically how the details can help move the needle. On the professional side, I am good at networking and empathizing with others. I can connect easily with others, understand their needs, see their strengths, and encourage their growth. I am often pushed in the direction of business development to connect with clients to understand their needs or leadership positions to lead the team forward a shared vision. As a result, I have served as the client lead for a $5.3 million project and also successfully led a project of 30 field employees to completion on a tight deadline. In my industry, I have the unique perspective of having worked for both design and construction companies. The experiences will help me to bridge the gap between both worlds on Design-Build projects.
5. What are your biggest achievements or contributions to water the industry?
Of the many projects spanning across the United States, there are two I consider the most notable. The first big achievement was working on the largest and the hardest project of my career. It was an $89 Million advanced water treatment facility. The project was a regulatory-driven project, where the agriculture union sued the city for discharging water with high chloride as their crops were dying downstream. We had an October 31, 2023, deadline to push water through the treatment plant. If we didn't meet the deadline, the client would need to pay $1 Million a day in fines. When I joined the project team, it was in bad shape. Therefore, it was long days for seven months to accelerate the project schedule while dealing with staffing changes as people quit the project or the company. However, the rest of us stuck together, stayed focused, and worked the long hours needed to deliver the results. In the end, we met the deadline.
Another big achievement is my current design-build project of providing flow control for wastewater coming from Mexico to the United States. It is important for me and the highly populated Southern California because we are minimizing the sewage overflow into the Tijuana River and the greater San Diego area such as beaches in Coronado and Imperial Beach. Billions of gallons of raw sewage flow have been a major problem for decades, and I am now directly responsible for finally designing and implementing the solution. This project will have an impact on both countries in improving public health, environmental protection, and ensuring the safe, sanitary, and uninterrupted use of Pacific waters by the Navy, Coast Guard, Border Patrol, commercial fishing, marine life, restaurants, businesses, and beach-goers.
6. What do you want to achieve professionally in the United States?
From a technical standpoint, I would like to be an expert in the design-build collaborative approach. I am driven to achieve operational efficiency. Therefore, I think about what needs to be done and how it can be done as fast as possible while maintaining a high-quality outcome. With the design-build approach, I am interested in process optimization of the project from cradle to grave in how to intertwine the design side into the construction side seamlessly. Furthermore, I want to address how we navigate conflicts collaboratively to maintain team morale and to make sure people are invested. The unique perspective I can offer is that I have experience working on both sides. I have worked for top design companies learning design. I am currently working for a reputable construction company. I believe my experiences in both worlds can help facilitate better collaboration and develop creative solutions to drive the project forward. From a professional standpoint, I would like to be a Vice President of a national company where I can oversee the design-build practice. I hope to bring in critical, complex, and challenging water infrastructure projects for my team and mentor the next generation of leaders.
7. If you had any advice for an entry-level person in your field, what would it be?
My advice for an entry level person would be to follow your passion. Life is too short to do something you are not passionate about.
8. Do you have a favorite saying or life quote? Why do you like this quote?
My favorite life quote is from Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change you want to see in the world." As much as we want a problem-free world, striving to provide solutions to challenges is what brings us together and drives society forward. I believe together, through listening to different perspectives we can develop solutions to challenges. I believe through considering the human dimensions we can find sustainable solutions. I believe through courage, we can push the limits.
