New Voices: David Henry

After graduating from the University of Georgia in 2016 with an agricultural engineering degree focused on mechanical design, David Henry says he struggled to find the right fit for a lifelong career.

He previously held roles in the building industry doing environmental wastewater testing, as well as in the biodegradable plastics industry, but found himself in the waste sector through an acquaintance at his church.

Through a connection with Steve Harbin, owner of Harbin Engineering—a Forsyth, Georgia-based environmental engineering firm—Henry joined the Harbin team in 2017 and started out performing groundwater, methane, stormwater and leachate monitoring at landfills.

Today, he is a consulting engineer and project manager at Harbin Engineering, where he helps design and permit landfills, transfer stations and material recovery facilities. Additionally, he conducts budgetary planning and financial planning at landfills.

In the following interview with Waste Today, Henry discusses his transition into the waste industry and his current role.

"I think what I’ve enjoyed about migrating from mechanical to civil is just how much involvement [there is] with people and trying to communicate with and educate people.”

Waste Today (WT): What have been some of the biggest differences between mechanical engineering and environmental engineering?

David Henry (DH): Civil engineering, I think, has a little bit more … people-facing opportunities or people-facing needs. So, a lot of the work that we do working with municipalities, you have to stand in front of people, you have to talk to people, you have to talk with the community or talk with county commissioners. You have to present your design and you have to make the link between, ‘Hey, we’ve got this really technical design, we’ve got all this technical knowledge, how can we communicate that and make that understandable to someone who’s not in the industry?’

I think those are some differences. Obviously, I have total respect for mechanical engineers. And every now and then I geek out a little bit with some of the neat things that are happening in manufacturing and mechanical design. But I think what I’ve enjoyed about migrating from mechanical to civil is just how much involvement [there is] with people and trying to communicate with and educate people.

WT: What does your day-to-day look like as a consulting engineer? Are there any notable projects you’ve worked on?

DH: [One of the] more unusual things that I’ve gotten to do is I ran a landfill back in 2022 for a while in between one of our clients retiring and … the solid waste authority board hiring their next solid waste director. [I] had the opportunity to be [at] the landfill day in and day out and just helped make sure their facility was running well. And I have to say, I enjoyed it. I think it was a very valuable experience for me. For the days that I’m behind the desk, [that lived experience] gives me a perspective of how are my designs, and how is what I’m perceiving … how is that going to work out?

It helps me come up with better designs, and more workable and practical designs, which is something … Harbin Engineering is all about: practical and effective designs and economical designs.