Electromechanical Engineer - Guy

• Name: Guy Denutte
• Occupation: Electromechanical Engineer and General Manager
• Education: Master's degree in Electromechanical Engineering from 82-87 State University of Gent
• Location: Cali, Colombia
• Company: ICCE - http://www.icceltda.com/

Introduction: Guy Denutte is a worldly Electromechanical Engineer, currently a general manager of his own firm in Colombia and working on a book called "Beyond Capitalism". I particularly like this interview because Guy came back with such strong opinions about everything he was asked about.

Brian: What are your responsibilities as the General Manager of ICCE?

Guy: What's in a name? I am not like the CEO of General Motors, who keeps himself busy with feeling important all day long and flying in a private jet when he goes meeting Obama begging him for money, because "commercial planes are not safe enough". Poor guy. In my case, nobody is willing to give me money so I can award myself with a huge bonification. Everything I have I have earned through my own efforts, and this makes me feel good. I am not too fond either on participating in neverending meetings on basically nothing. I have seen how this works when working in big firms in Belgium. I try to keep my meetings relevant in scope and limited in time, in order to have enough time left to do the actual work, i.e. making quotations, selling, designing, constructing and starting up waste water treatment plants.

Brian: What does ICCE do?

Guy: Design, construct and start up waste water treatment plants.

Brian: If you do not work alone, how many employees does ICCE have?

Guy: ICCE is only two persons. Sales efforts are enhanced through friends, who do business in related fields (sales of pumps, pipe systems, drinking water plants, etc.) and inform me when they see an opportunity. In the last 13 years I have also gathered a list of satisfied clients, who also help me with mouth-to-mouth-publicity.

Every project is outsourced in a way, with people I learned I can rely on. To design I use an architect who assists me making construction and mechanical drawings. Another engineer performs the structural design. To construct I make use of civil engineers, and several workplaces assist in making filter elements, stainless steel construction work and some machinery. Other machinery is imported from Europe.

Brian: What do you love most about your job?

Guy: The fact I don't have a boss and don't have to comply with a regular time schedule.

Brian: What do you like least about your job?

Guy: Up till the year 2001, I would have said the fact that you don't have a constant income. But since then, things worked out pretty well, I have some savings that are still there, since I never participated in the stock market. For the moment, my business keeps going well, even in this crisis year.

Brian: What did you like about teaching?

Guy: This was more a transition job. I didn't like it too much. Not that I don't like to learn, but I don't like to "teach a course" (or "receive" a course). It's too rigid for me. I like to go beyond, crossing borders, thinking on a multidisciplinary scale. I am a very avid reader, and I have even posted some reviews of books I consider very important in amazon, a small selection of the more than 1.000 books I have read so far, mostly nonfiction. Since I understood that 9/11 was an inside job, "made in USA", I don't think I will read many novels further on. Reality is complex enough to get a full grip on. I am also glad there is a growing movement called "Architects and Engineers for 911 truth".

Brian: When you started out on your career, how much time was spent out in the field compared to now? Which do you prefer?

Guy: At the beginning, I crossed the whole country contacting engineering firms to let them know what I was doing. So I was on the road much of the time. Now I would say it's about 50/50, or even less, being on the road. I don't like to travel anymore. Since 9/11, when everyone of us has became a potential terrorist following Bush and his neocon cowboys, travelling has become a curse, so I am quite happy with this. Anyway, it's better for the environment also.

Brian: How did you get your job at (NCOS) National Center for Development Cooperation?

Guy: As a student I was always interested in the environment, in the so-called "third world", etc. I went to every conference that was organized and so I got to know people engaged in those movements, and became more engaged myself. That was certainly of great help since I desperately wanted to go and work for "Nicaragua Libre". I am happy it succeeded so that I didn't had to continue to live in a dream world where the sandinistas were the heros, like a lot of people now consider Chávez as their absolute hero. I despise Ortega for his violation of his stepchild, like I despise Chávez for his attack on the democracy. If you're good, or if you consider yourself better than the rest, then some criticizing might actually be worthwile in order to improve. Anyway, I think that everybody should change in his or her personal life, and not rely on other people doing this job. I became a vegetarian, I buy organics, I compost my kitchen waste and grass cuttings, I will buy an electric car as soon as they come available and plan to install a renewable energy system once I have my own house, that will be built following the principles of the solar passive house.

Brian: How well did your degree as an Electromechanical Engineer prepare you for your first major job in Nicaragua? (completing a major water supply project for 3 communities)

Guy: To be honest with you, I didn't like studying so much. I nearly never went to classes the first three years, and the last two years became a bit more engaged, because the topics were more than just mathematics. When I was a student, I still liked cars and combustion motors, and we received courses on those. I also liked the courses on pumps, but those were very theoretically. Anyway, the study of engineering gives you a broad basis and later on you always feel confident you can go back to this when in doubt.

Brian: How important is graduate school in being successful in your field?

Guy: I don't remember anything I learned in graduate school that served me later, except for languages. I figure I always wanted to grow up fast. I am always surprised when some of my friends talk about their time in graduate school and idealize it. I don't even have friends left from this period of my life. It's over. I have been on the move ever since.

Brian: What didn't your college degree prepare you for?

Guy: All the important things : creativity in finding appropiate solutions, negotiating a sales, interpersonal contacts, etc. But those things are impossible to "teach" either way. They come through experience. You have to launch yourself in the water, prevent yourself from drowning, and then surge again. It's a learning process. You have to through it.

Brian: What advice do you have for those wishing to pursue a career in water/wastewater management?

Guy: For me it was not a "career" choice. Water in general is one of the basic necessities of humanity. Therefore I work in this field. I could have worked also for the petroleum industry, for the petrochemical industry, in car manufacturing, producing weapon systems, etc. but those were always totally out of the question for me.

Brian: Which of your past projects was your favorite and why?

Guy: I am proud of the design of the WWTP of Tuluá, since in Belgium you would have hired an engineering firm to design such a big project, whereas here I could do the whole project by myself.

Brian: What project are you looking forward to most and why?

Guy: I plan to work less and less as an engineer in the near future and dedicate more and more time to promote a book I am nearly finished writing, since I consider this world to be totally messed up, precisely due to extremely bad engineering and bad management on the one hand, and corrupt politics on the other hand. Look at General Motors. They had thousands electric vehicles hitting the Californian roads 10 years ago and decided to destroy them all, and began producing this horrible thing called the Hummer. They succeeded in reversing the Californian zero-emission-law. Now they're nearly broke, and I am very happy with this. In the end, justice is done. We have to change the way we are living, and I have some clear ideas on what could be done. I would like to give conferences and launch a movement of concerned citizens in the near future.

Brian: What advice do you have for young engineers?

Guy: Work some years for a boss or a big firm, learn the job, and then become independent after some years. It's hard in the beginning (therefore you need some savings), but after some years you will much more job satisfaction than you would if you kept working for a boss. Maybe the most important thing is to try always to remain faithful to your ideals and ethics, and always do a good job, since your customers will ultimately help you expanding your business.