2013 40 Under 40: Rob Young, 31

Mechanical Engineer, KJWW Engineering Consultants, Des Moines, Iowa

By Jessia DuBois-Maahs, Contributing Writer May 14, 2013

Rob Young, PE, 31

Mechanical Engineer, KJWW Engineering Consultants, Des Moines, Iowa

Iowa State University, BS Mechanical Engineering

Rob Young has worked on all sizes of projects in various markets, with a focus on health care, higher education, and large commercial office buildings. Young is experienced in designing and commissioning LEED-certified buildings and is knowledgeable in the LEED Green Building Rating System, with many of his projects reflecting his interest in practical, sustainable design. For example, he led the plumbing and piping design for the new LEED Platinum Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield building in Des Moines, Iowa, the largest new commercial office building in the world to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Young also was the lead mechanical engineer in the design of the new multi-phase 205,000-sq-ft University of Iowa Football Operations Facility, which features variable flow heat recovery chillers that simultaneously heat the facility and create chilled water for the building and the campus. The radiant heating system in the practice field is currently the largest radiant-heated turf field in North America. Young traveled to KJWW’s India office a few years ago to mentor the then-new 28-person mechanical staff for nearly 6 months, during which time he provided training in mechanical engineering principles and practice. Outside of his profession, he spends time with his wife, Julie, and two young children, Mayla and Nathan, and he volunteers at his church where he coaches a group of people. Young enjoys playing guitar, having learned it in college as a way of rebuilding coordination in his arm following a particularly bad fracture.