{"id":93670,"date":"2020-08-20T08:40:22","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T12:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=93670"},"modified":"2020-08-18T11:06:49","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T15:06:49","slug":"building-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2020\/08\/20\/building-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Building confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Mechanical engineering grad Katy Haddad built a beach house on Tybee Island, Georgia.<\/p><\/div>\n

When a 30-foot-high brick wall of a house she was renovating threatened to come crashing down, Katy Haddad leaned on her engineering education from Wright State University.<\/p>\n

The wall of the South Carolina house had been improperly supported by a concrete patio, and Haddad had to quickly figure out how to build a support under the wall to keep it from collapsing. Work on the project was halted while Haddad researched the material properties of a steel beam she wanted to use as a support to make sure it was strong enough and even stronger than necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I figured out which steel beam was safe to use, I showed my calculations to the contractor and he felt comfortable that it would work,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were able to fix the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haddad earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering<\/a> from Wright State in 2002 and often uses that knowledge. She says the structural mechanics, the design and drafting software, and the 2D drawing skills she learned in engineering have directly helped her in constructing and renovating homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI draw every one of my projects by taking careful measurements and then drawing different elevations and floorplans down to the quarter of an inch,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is essential when planning a good renovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said structural mechanics is important because it helps when looking at a building and making decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know if it is safe to tear out a wall?\u201d she said. \u201cCan you easily determine when a support is load-bearing?\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2011, Haddad decided to attempt her dream building project \u2014 a beach house \u2014 and bought a tiny shack on Tybee Island, Georgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shack was completely rotten and unsalvageable, so I tore it down,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Haddad salvaged the antique plumbing fixtures and refinished them. She also hired a general contractor and obtained all of the necessary permits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe restrictions of building in a flood zone with hurricane requirements are intense,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Katy Haddad earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering from Wright State in 2002.<\/p><\/div>\n

Haddad said the toughest part was having little control over the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you decide to hire others and do something huge that requires a lot of permits and a lot of people, you give up control and that is very nerve-wracking,\u201d she said. \u201cI like renovating houses on my own, with my own tools, and my own skills because then I get to manage it. It moves as quickly or as slowly as I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haddad said the most gratifying part of the Tybee project was getting to the end and finally being able to enjoy it. She especially likes having the beach house painted bright purple.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my family were able to spend time there before I sold it, and it was a memory and experience we cherish,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was very unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katy (Slominski) Haddad, who grew up in Springboro, became interested in building things at a young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family was full of engineers and pilots, and my parents recognized that I was analytical and encouraged me to pursue engineering as a career,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Springboro High School in 1997, Haddad attended the University of New Mexico but transferred to Wright State after her first year to study engineering. She interned at the Delphi Automotive brake plant.<\/p>\n

After earning her bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering from Wright State, she moved to Maryland and then to South Carolina, where she eventually worked as a structural engineer in a fiberglass factory. While living in Maryland, Haddad had time to expand her carpentry skills. In the first house she and her husband owned, she renovated a bathroom and finished the basement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned plumbing, tiling and why some jobs are better to hire out, like putting up drywall,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Haddad is renovating a ruined mansion on a lake in South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had to learn some new skills because it was built from steel and concrete,\u201d she said. \u201cThat requires more robust tools. I bought my very first jackhammer for this house.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a hobby, Haddad is preparing to build a chicken coop that will protect the animals from eagles and raccoons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could build it out of fiberglass but there’s that other engineering skill that comes in handy \u2014 knowing when there should be cost constraints and when you might be over-designing something,\u201d she said. \u201cBut in a perfect world, all chicken coops would be fiberglass and 304 stainless steel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haddad said the engineering program at Wright State gave her the tools and confidence to take on big projects and not feel like she had to ask others to do the thinking for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don’t finish an engineering program if you’re easily discouraged or intimidated, and you don’t take huge risks in construction and real estate without courage,\u201d she said. \u201cIt starts with learning how to think, how to problem-solve, how to do risk assessment, but it ends in courage and perseverance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Katy Haddad said Wright State’s engineering program gave her the tools and confidence to take on big construction projects. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":93686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,743,725,4269,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-engineering-computer-science","category-home-news-sidebar","category-mechanical-and-materials-engineering","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93670"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93698,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93670\/revisions\/93698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}