Shining a spotlight on those making a difference at Wood is an important part of our inspired culture. We are all about motivating our teams to be the best they can be, recognising the expertise, capabilities, and positive energy they bring to work every single day.
Meet Rodrigo Isaza, Mechanical Department Manager for our U.S. Life Sciences team, with a passion for applying new thinking and technology to lower the carbon impact of life science projects.
My 18-year career with Wood started in 2006 as a summer intern. Next, as Junior Mechanical Engineer in our Oakville, Ontario office, I learned the ropes of mechanical design on life sciences projects, and I later gained exposure to the construction side of things as a field engineer on a biochemical project. Seconded to a pharmaceutical client for six years as part of their mechanical engineering team in Pennsylvania, I continued to grow my project life cycle expertise, providing mechanical and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design, maintenance, and commissioning/validation support on multiple projects. I have recently stepped up to a new challenge as Mechanical Department Manager.
My latest adventure is working on an HVAC optimization project for our client, Sanofi. Together with the team, I have been looking at different ways to optimize HVAC systems to reduce energy usage and carbon emissions by changing operating conditions, making physical modifications to existing systems and optimizing sequences of operations to make them more efficient. I find it especially rewarding working in partnership with the client to challenge traditional ways of doing things, from looking at new ways to engineer solutions to being a part of the implementation, testing and risk management process, seeing first-hand the level of impact that my work has in reducing carbon as we strive for a net-zero future.
There isn’t a day when I don’t reflect on the things I love about my job, from the technical aspects of design and engineering solutions to meeting client challenges in managing risks and meeting their operational goals. Each day is unique, making for new and exciting work daily. I also find enormous satisfaction and pride in supporting and influencing my team to reach their own goals, motivating me to set even bolder ambitions for myself and the team to design cleaner solutions and deliver life science facilities of the future.
Outside work, I spend time with my wife and two-year-old son, with another one on the way. I’m an avid Toronto Maple Leafs and Real Madrid fan and enjoy playing golf during the summer.
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