MY JOURNEY: RALLIN HARRIS

Rallin Harris is a Project Manager for Energy Balance and Integration

I chose the mechanical/sheet metal trade after being exposed to it during my internship with Energy Balance and Integration while in engineering school. I began the internship with no prior knowledge of the industry, but I quickly began to appreciate its importance, as well as its complexity. After my internship, I was brought on full time. At the University of New Mexico, I earned my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2017 and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2019. I became a certified ICB/TABB TABB technician and an ICB/TABB certified fire and smoke damper technician in June 2020, and I became a journeyman sheet metal worker after completing my apprenticeship in 2021. In the traditional sense, I did my training in reverse.

My employer at Energy Balance & Integration (EB&I) encouraged me to take the apprenticeship for two reasons: so I could understand sheet metal and do my job as a project manager better and to gain the respect of the people I help throughout the day. Sometimes I tell them what to do and how to proceed, and sometimes they tell me what to do and where we can improve. Having gone through the same program they went through helps us both and benefits our relationship.

Besides changing people’s mindset about me, going through the apprenticeship has been instrumental in what I do day in and day out. In some ways, entering the apprenticeship program as an engineer made things easier. The math, for instance, was easy for me, but understanding how to take a 2D drawing and then building a 3D piece of duct out of it was a new challenge.

My favorite aspect of my job and my part in the industry is problem solving. What I found most enjoyable about engineering school was working through complex problems with set variables. I was very fortunate to find an industry in where I get to use the skills I developed in engineering school every day.

Breaking out of the silo of just being an engineer made my career so much better. In our communications at work, we implement everything that the engineer sees in theory on paper. So, in testing, adjusting, and balancing, you go in and make sure that all the engineer has calculated and accounted for adds up. In the way we communicate with the engineers, I feel like I bring something to the table because I have a similar background, so I can see where they’re coming from. The sheet metal background allows me to see the practical implications of those theories and how they can or cannot be translated to the field. That is one of the many satisfying facets of my job.

I encourage young people to give sheet metal a shot. The sheet metal industry is one of growth and tremendous progress, and it has many career paths for people from all walks of life and different backgrounds. Although I do come from an academic background, I can say that going through the sheet metal apprenticeship program at Local 49 taught me the value of education outside college. College is not for everyone, and there are many great educational and career opportunities in trades like the sheet metal industry that can lead to success and fulfillment.

My most important takeaway from the Partners in Progress Conference was from Captain Abashoff’s talk about his experience as commander of the USS Benfold. He challenged each of his sailors to do things 1% better as, after all, it was their ship. As project manager for EB&I, I aspire to be better every day in supporting my technicians in the field and assisting them as best as I can. I know that it’s our ship here at EB&I, and the betterment of that ship relies on us within it. But it’s also our ship in the larger terms of the sheet metal industry, and if we can stand out to our clients and owners, then we can further push the excellence of our great industry, as well as our labor-management relationships. ▪