Who designs your community’s specifications and oversees construction? Have you ever wondered who ensures the structural integrity of your building? Who works on your tennis courts, stairs, and determines whether remediation or replacement is a better solution for your balconies? Meet Kipcon’s Engineering Team!
This July, I interviewed Melissa Wrubel, Luis Sanchez, and Joe Tible, to learn more about the Engineering Team and what an average day for them looks like. Discover what makes Kipcon’s engineering services and team stand out with this month’s good read.
Later this year, I’ll sit down with Kipcon’s Vice President of Engineering, Mark Yanchuk to discuss his role and history with Kipcon.
A Dedicated, Diverse, & Hardworking Engineering Team
When I first sat down with the team, I wanted to know what makes Kipcon’s engineering team special? What makes them stand out?
Melissa described the team “as highly capable in their individual areas of expertise.” Joe expressed a similar sentiment, “The Engineering Team is a diverse group of individuals that each have unique specializations, which when brought together, combine to cover all aspects of engineering work.” Joe also went on to describe the team’s commitment to getting answers for our clients and the ways in which the team supports each other, “If I ever have a question about a topic that I’m not familiar with myself, I know I can always reach out to my team for an answer.”
Luis told me, “Our team is hardworking. We’re always trying to do our best.” Across every department, this is Kipcon’s goal. We work hard to provide our clients with the best work.
From Left to Right: Jason Roman, Luis Sanchez, Chelsea Brodmerkel, Jean Roccio, Jodi Smallwood, & Seth Frumkin.
A Week in the Life
If you’ve ever tried calling the office in search of your engineering project manager because you were unable to reach them directly, it’s usually because they’re in the field or deep in the zone working on design plans.
An average week for Melissa is split between fieldwork, design, and proposal preparation.
Melissa Wrubel presenting at the 2026 NJ Cooperator Event.
“An average week begins with a team meeting to go over any issues the Engineering Team may have encountered during the previous week, and to answer any questions that may have arisen,” Joe told me. “During the week, the work consists of performing site visits for ongoing construction projects, preparing reports based on inspections performed, and coordinating any questions from contractors or Associations regarding the projects.”
From experience, I know that the Sales and Marketing Team is in constant communication throughout the week, so I asked Joe, how often is the Engineering Team talking? “I would say that I typically reach out to a team member about once or twice a week based on questions I may have or to gather information from other team members’ past experiences.”
Joe Tible and Jenn LaGuardia working hard at Kipcon’s 2026 State of the Company Meeting.
Luis got straight to the point when I asked him what his work week looks like, “Very Busy.” I’m sure everyone at Kipcon would agree.
During the third week of certain months, you can also find Mark, Melissa, and Joe presenting Kipcon’s webinars. (Shoutout to Joe who presented his first webinar this month, Eyes in the Sky: The Drone Revolution in Engineering.)
Teamwork Makes the Engineering Dream Team Work
“The projects are individualized, however there is always plenty of room for collaboration.” Everyone on the team is working together. Joe continued, “If I’m working to prepare a specification for a project and there are site or geotechnical information that I need to include, I can always reach out to Melissa, our Site PE, to ensure the information I am entering is accurate and matches her previous experience.” Luis also confirmed that he reaches out to his team whenever he needs their expertise. Whether we’re reaching out to our own team members or across departments, everyone at Kipcon does what it takes to get the job done. An example of mixed team collaboration comes from Joe, “I’ve been asked to do drone inspections on projects to help the Inspections Team, and I’ve also been asked to help cover an inspection if a project manager is inundated with other work at that time.”
Good Communication, Collaboration, & Consistency
“I would say that our working relationship with the team is extremely strong, and if needed, any one of us on the team would be able to step up and take over a project for someone else on the team. It is a very collaborative effort, with all of us working to ensure that the proper methods are followed and to provide the best services for our clients,” Joe told me.
No matter which project manager a community is assigned, a Kipcon project manager is always the right choice. “What differentiates us from other firms is our communication and our ability to arrive at a project and perform the same work, regardless of who the project manager is,” Joe shared during our interview, attributing this seamless flow of work to the collaboration between the Engineering Team. “We strive to provide consistent deliverables that are interchangeable between project managers, ensuring the client always receives the best information possible.”
In case you still have any doubt on what makes Kipcon’s Engineering Team great, I’ll let Joe summarize: “We all have our own unique niches of expertise and that makes for a very well-rounded team that can handle any engineering needs that come our way.”
Joe Tible at Kipcon’s 2024 State of the Company Meeting (try playing Jenga with engineers!)
Freaky Friday: Engineering Team Addition
One of my favorite questions to ask during this blog series is, if you could switch roles with someone on the team for the day, who would it be and why? In the spirit of the Engineering Team working and learning together, here’s Joe’s answer:
“If I could switch roles with someone for the day, it would be Melissa. I don’t work on as many site projects as she does, so switching roles would provide me with a new avenue to experience even more of our Engineering Team. It would also provide me with additional knowledge that I can use to help my team.”
This is what makes the Kipcon Team special. Throughout these latest blog entries celebrating Kipcon’s 40th anniversary, we continue to highlight how important the team at Kipcon is to everyone at Kipcon. We do our best to help each other succeed because we care about our Kipcon family. We do what we can, whenever we can, to learn from each other and to help each other.
Connect with Kipcon
For all your community’s engineering project needs, call us at (800) 828-4118 or contact us here.