2022 GroundBreaker: Melvin C. Williams, Vice President, Terracon
GroundBreak Carolinas is honored to spotlight Melvin C. Williams, F.SAME, FACEC, a member of the Class of 2022 GroundBreakers — an exclusive group of individuals who have gone above and beyond to make a difference for the construction community in the Carolinas.
Williams is Vice President and Senior Client Developer assigned to Terracon’s South East Division. The Citadel and South Carolina State University graduate is very passionate about business development, continuously advocating for and improving the business climate of engineering.
Williams has earned a national reputation for elevating the engineering profession by encouraging a strong culture of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) within the industry, assisting with training and development of future leaders, and serving in leadership roles on regional and national boards and committees. This includes the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME); the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) – for which he is currently Senior Vice Chair and serves as a Board Member for the ACEC Research Institute; the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG), and other engineering and construction organizations.
Throughout his distinguished career, Williams has been actively involved in economic development at the state level and was just elected to the South Carolina Economic Developers’ Association’s (SCEDA) board of directors.
GroundBreak Carolinas caught up with Williams for a quick conversation.
Tell us what you are most passionate about when it comes to your role and/or the AEC industry.
Bad legislation and the workforce shortage can negatively impact the engineering industry. So, I am very passionate about advocating on behalf of the AEC Industry and being a resource to improve the business environment for our membership. I am also passionate about working with students that will make up our future workforce.
What are some of the things you are doing outside of your workspace and organization to improve the construction industry and encourage others to make engineering a potential career choice?
Currently, I am serving on two college engineering advisory boards, which allows me the opportunity to interact and mentor students that will hopefully make up the future engineering workforce. I am also using social media such as LinkedIn to publicize the essential things that I am doing in the engineering industry.
What do you see as future trends in the engineering world over the next 5-10 years? Will technological advances dominate the industry changes of the future?
Due to the severity of climatic impact to the built environment, I think that universities and colleges should increase training in their curriculum on resiliency and climate change so that future engineers can have awareness and consider this in their future design and plans.
With the amount of data being collected for design and engineering considerations and the increased development in artificial intelligence, I see that technology and software will play a big part of making the engineering industry more efficient with their designs. Hopefully, the owner will also embrace this change and compensate the industry accordingly.
What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment?
Besides having a loving and supporting family, being elected or chosen by my peers to serve in several state and national leadership positions in the engineering industry and getting recognized for this service.
