Ruggles Builds a Bridge to an Engineering Career

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio– As a senior structural engineer with MS Consultants, William Ruggles is responsible for designing projects like retaining walls and large concrete tanks at wastewater treatment plants. He also designs bridges the community traverses on a daily basis.

“One of my favorite projects is the state Route 11 bridge in Canfield,” he says. “That bridge was interesting because we had to design it for part-width construction so we had to maintain traffic on half of the bridge while demolishing half and constructing it half at a time.”

Ruggles says a lot of work goes into pursuing a career as an engineer. One of the biggest challenges, he says, is obtaining and maintaining a professional engineers license.

“There’s a lot that goes into that,” Ruggles says. “First of all you have to graduate from an [Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology] accredited college or university. Then you have to pass the fundamentals of engineering exam, which is a five or six hour exam. After that, then you can go into practice and work with a registered engineer for four years and then you can take the professional engineering exam.”

But that’s not the end of an engineer’s studies, according to Ruggles.

“You still have to get so many continuing education credits per year to maintain your engineering license every year after that,” he says.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.