Matthew Schnelle didn’t have an exact career path mapped out when he got out of college, but he did have an ongoing interest in aviation.
Schnelle was working on parks and forestry projects for local municipalities, but aviation seemed appealing because it was such a niche market with professionals doing a lot of specialty design projects. The first chance Schnelle had to be the project manager on an airport improvement project, he understood how big of an impact he could have.
“The first time you do that it’s a bit scary that you’re the one out there on the point of it,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s very fulfilling when you’re the one out there solving problems on these projects.”
Schnelle is RS&H’s Ohio aviation leader and has served as a project manager, design engineer and construction administrator on numerous aviation projects. He succeeds as a multi-tasker on various fronts, with as many as 10 simultaneous projects, both small and simple as well as large and complex.
One of Schnelle’s great strengths is in client management. Clients like him personally, have confidence in his technical expertise and are confident in their project’s success when he oversees their projects. They know he has their best interests in mind with regards to finding ways to maximize their budgets and meet schedules.
Schnelle leads the technical committee for RS&H’s aviation practice with a primary mission to ensure technical excellence and best practices within its designs. Under his leadership, the committee has increased associate training, determined ways to monitor and implement innovation, increased project efficiency and quality, and consolidated comments for reviews of draft advisory circulars on behalf of RS&H.
During the pandemic, Schnelle is virtually providing guidance and resources to recent college graduates new to the industry.
“As we go through an age where technology helps us do more and I get to help bring along the next generation of engineers, I have the opportunity to make sure they don’t lose sight of the human and people aspect of it all,” Schnelle said.
