Macy Deck, a May 2023 graduate who studied Mechanical Engineering at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville, was awarded the Foster McCarl, Jr. Memorial Scholarship at MCAA23 this past March during the Awards of Excellence Breakfast. This national scholarship honors Foster McCarl, Jr.’s many contributions to advancing the mechanical contracting industry, including his efforts towards establishing what is now known as the John R. Gentille Foundation (JRGF). McCarl’s Inc. is the scholarship sponsor.
Macy co-founded her student chapter, which was officially chartered during the Phoenix convention. Macy previously interned at MCAA Member, Icon Mechanical and their sister company, iENG Design and is excited to start her career there full-time this summer.
“There are so many exciting changes with technology and in the structure of the construction industry that I’m thrilled to be a part of. During my summer internship, a project was assigned to all the interns called the Intern Innovation Project. The purpose of the project was for each intern to find an inconvenience in the company that could be improved upon and then to present it to a panel of judges. At first, I had trouble coming up with ideas and a mentor suggested that I try to standardize certain methods of HVAC designing. Standardizing required gathering senior mechanical engineers to agree on what should be done. At the end of my internship, I was shocked to find out that I had won the Intern Innovation Project award.
My project brought together employees with unique and vast experiences to decide on a common ground. Through this experience, I realized that my strength is promoting collaboration. Construction projects succeed only when people communicate and collaborate effectively to build a building.”
MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Macy on this prestigious scholarship and thank McCarl’s Inc. for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.
