Paul Ford

Disciplined. Dynamic. Resilient.

Current Employer & Job Title: AES Northeast, Electrical Engineer; Adjunct Lecturer, Clinton Community College

Age: 30 | Hometown: Jay, NY |

Education: Bachelor’s degree SUNY Canton in Electrical Engineering Technology, Associate’s degree Clinton Community College in Electronics Technology

 In three words, how would others describe your personal brand—and where do those traits show up most in your work?

Disciplined: I exercise discipline daily with a very busy personal and professional lifestyle. Discipline manifests itself greatest in my workday when there are multiple tasks to manage which require precise calculations or meticulous design decisions.

Dynamic: My endeavors outside of work include fatherhood, fitness, competitive retro gaming, and serving as an adjunct at Clinton Community College. These often require rapid mental pivoting which occurs daily for me at AES. A typical example of being dynamic would be solving an unexpected construction site condition over the phone in the midst of working on a design for another project.

Resilient: As a two-time IronMan finisher resiliency is the name of the game. The mental and  physical stamina required I have trained vigorously and has served me well as I navigate complex design issues or work towards creative engineering solutions.

What aspect of your organization’s culture do you protect or promote most fiercely—and how have you influenced it?

Innovation is the aspect of my organization's culture I promote/protect most. In electrical engineering innovation shows up most in the details of my work through selections in areas such as lighting controls or special systems. I have influenced innovation through my design choices implementing designs which don’t just meet today’s code but aim to serve the needs of a building thirty years from now.

Where do you invest your time outside of work, and what motivates your commitment to those efforts?

Looking at it from an hours per week perspective my biggest time investment is in my wife and two sons. I aim to serve them as a loving and compassionate husband/father who also keeps (and repairs) the roof over their head, takes care of them when sick, and serves as a suitable role model. Knowing that my accomplishments and personal endeavors impact my one and three year old boys in such a way to possibly shape their life positively is all the commitment I need. My commitment at home to my family allows me also to give back to my community with that same level of dedication, whether as a volunteer firefighter or in the classroom with my students.

 Who has most influenced your leadership style—and what specific lesson from them still shapes how you lead today?

My boss Nathan Bull, P.E., Director of Building Systems at AES Northeast has been the most influential figure in my career. Working alongside him for seven years, I’ve witnessed how confidence and clear communication can transform a project, but the greatest lesson he has inadvertently taught me is that good leadership is rooted in technical mastery. He showed me that a superior knowledge of the systems we are designing is what allows you to successfully guide a team through a design project. I lead today knowing that you cannot effectively champion a project you don't fully understand.

Where are you making your greatest impact right now—in your organization, industry, or community—and how do you measure it?

My greatest impact in my organization is made through my day to day design work as an electrical engineer. I am fortunate enough to be a part of countless projects which when completed will positively impact the community. Some examples include electrical design work for a wastewater treatment plant, local K-12 schools, and industrial facilities. I often measure my impact in terms of electrical reliability and safety. Knowing that my modern LED lighting upgrade will provide safety for students or the municipality now has a suitable backup generator to serve their operations is a great measure of my impact.

What’s something about you that would surprise people—and what does it reveal about how you think or operate?

Some may be surprised to know that I am a first generation college student raised without the typical examples of technology at home (computer, cellphone, internet access). It shaped me uniquely in such a way that to “keep up” I had to work harder and master strategic time management in high school. That drive to keep up is what led me to become a highly proactive engineer. It taught me to anticipate problems before they happen and fueled my passion for electricity and technology. I design electrical systems with a certain level of appreciation because I know what it's like to navigate life without them.

What is one lesson your career has taught you that you had to learn the hard way—and how has it changed you?

One lesson learned the hard way would be creating a design without confidence in all aspects of it. If there is uncertainty in a detail of it there could be problems during the construction phase. This may become a costly change order resulting in additional money spent by the owner to fix. An event like this shapes my methodology and design knowledge so that the lesson learned is implemented for all future designs where applicable resulting in a more successful project. 

What is the biggest professional or personal risk you’ve taken—and would you make the same decision again? Why or why not?

The biggest professional/personal risk I’ve taken would be the commitment to a dynamic and hectic lifestyle. Balancing the effort and stresses of professional engineering, teaching, and triathlon could quite easily lead to burnout. If I could make the decision all over again I would pick this approach to life every time. These commitments to my professional life and personal life forces me to be the most disciplined version of myself. It makes it second nature to show up to a AES project meeting with a level of perspective and resilience that can only be forged outside of your comfort zone.

The North Country’s “Gen IQ” reflects how well we lead, market to, and innovate across generations. Where are we getting it right—and where do we need to evolve?

For me personally I believe we are getting it right with mentorship. I am the beneficiary of decades of engineering wisdom from my boss at AES Northeast and consequently I am able to take  that knowledge and experience and translate it into my lessons I teach for students at Clinton Community College. I sit right in the middle of the generations so I feel both sides of that mentorship strongly. Where we could evolve would be in modernizing our regional infrastructure to help keep the next generation of leaders here in the North Country. We already have the natural beauty of the Adirondacks to draw everyone in, now we need to continue efforts to innovate and improve our infrastructure to retain them.

What’s one idea, belief, or change you hope to see shape the future of leadership in our region?

The change I hope to see is more instances of success being measured by accomplishments at work as well as inputting it into the next generation. For example as an adjunct lecturer and father, I feel the future of the region depends on those who step back into the classroom and share their experiences, good and bad. This will shape the future of leadership positively I feel as they can learn and grow from the good and develop grit and determination from the bad.