LOOKING BACK ON 2021

Looking back on 2021, I realized I had written pieces on robotics, tiny homes, solar powered stuff and a bunch on supply chain woes, but very little about our team.  So, I thought it was time to change that and shine a light on some personal bright spots this year.

Tim Mace

First off, Kramer Engineers would like to welcome designer, and lifelong Athens County native, Tim Mace to our team. He took his first step up the career ladder right out of college back in the 90’s.  Since then, Tim navigated the path as an engineering designer with some of Ohio’s most notable firms.

During that time, he also managed to marry his high school sweetheart and raise 4 children.  Today, Tim still lives on his Athens homestead, a retired farm that has been in his family since his grandfather purchased the land in 1929.  When I asked Tim what his favorite pastimes were he said, “I enjoy spending time with my family and I especially enjoy spending time playing with my granddaughter”.

Scott McKnight

Scott had had a busy year…

• He got married.
• He sent his first kid off to college at Case Western Reserve University.
• He sent his second kid off to college at Penn State.
• And on top of it all, he just re-carpeted his house.

Matt Dicken

Matt also celebrated a couple of firsts.  Although he has been a valued member of Kramer Engineers’ civil engineering team for many years, in April of this year he upped his game.  Matt passed the PE exam, elevating his title from Engineer to Professional Engineer.

He and his wife Emily also upped their housing square footage, which was no easy feat during this year’s continued home buying frenzy.   But 23 offers later, they packed up the truck, said goodbye to their downtown Worthington cottage and moved to their new home in Hilliard.

Brett Kramer

Brett too got the new house buying bug.  Although he and his wife Megan loved their Grandview starter home, they realized that with a growing toddler the space just wasn’t going to work.  So, they found a house that they could happily grow into and with the right tweaks, could be their forever home.  The transformation began.  For most of 2021 their new home was in a state of upheaval, designers, contractors, and drywall dust.  But it was worth it in the end.  Today, the holidays are just a bit more special now that they are in the home of their dreams.

Daniel Staudt

Dan started a new hobby this year, exploring the world of horology, which is the study of the measurement of time and the instruments that measure it.  The passion started with a clock he inherited from his grandparents.  The piece itself piqued his interest, but it was the inner workings of the piece that spurred his fascination.   Now Dan collects and repairs a broad range of timepieces; the earliest movement (or mechanism) in his collection is from 1914.

Irene O’Gorman

After our 2020 vacation drought, my husband Bill and I finally decided it was time to get out of town.  And since we lived through nearly a year of groundhog days, we wanted to go somewhere we’d never been.  So, after some deliberation we settled on downtown Savannah, Georgia.  What a perfect choice it was; great food, serious cocktails and the people were some of the sweetest folks on the planet.