Q&A with Roger Nuxoll, PLS, EIT

Continuing in our People, Passion, and Performance series, we recently spoke with Roger Nuxoll, PLS, EIT, who serves as a Senior Land Surveyor for our Effingham, IL office.

What’s great about Farnsworth Group?  The people at Farnsworth Group make the company great. Farnsworth Group has a vast source of knowledge with the people that work here and it’s important to utilize that to our advantage. What I have learned over the past 8 years, is that if I don’t know how to do it, someone here does, and that person probably specializes in that field. 

How has technology influenced your career?  Practicing in both land surveying and civil engineering fields, I am exposed to a lot of different technologies. When I graduated college there was a large shift in surveying due to GPS, satellite capabilities, and equipment getting more advanced. The introduction of VRS into the state plane coordinate system made a major impact on the surveying world. Allowing surveyors across states to work in a known coordinate system more easily has really progressed the field of surveying in my opinion. The biggest influence in civil engineering was the introduction of AutoCAD Civil3D. I use Civil3D for civil engineering and land surveying, the software has come a long way from the  Autoland Desktop that I first learned from.

In your opinion, what takes an architecture, engineering, or survey project from good, to great?  Any project can go from good to great when you see the final impact it has or will have in the end on the client or community. Big or small, I get the same gratification knowing I helped a person or community make their life or future better.

Talk about a favorite boss or mentor and why you liked them.  Did they have a single quality that you appreciated?  At Farnsworth Group, my two greatest mentors have been Andy Hanfland and Wes Meyers. I have learned a great deal in both fields with their guidance, Andy in the civil engineering field and Wes in the land surveying field. Andy’s single quality is he will just get it done and done correctly, he’s the closer with the clients. Wes’s single quality that I truly appreciate, is his wealth of land surveying knowledge, he will be missed with retirement.

Talk about your team. I’ll give a shout-out to the complete Effingham office. Andy Hanfland, Anthony Jansen, and Ryan Staley. Most of the company probably doesn’t realize that there are only four people that make up the Effingham office and we put out a lot of production on the work scale. We owe a lot to our great clients, and we are thankful for all the opportunities we have been given.

What was your favorite toy as a kid?
I had a Rural King Ranch set where you could set up your barns, fences, cattle, and horses. I played with that a lot.

What’s your favorite indulgent food?
Rib-eye or New York Strip doesn’t matter what size, if you put it in front of me it will be handled.

Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?
My father and mother raised 7 wild country kids all of whom graduated college in either engineering, nursing, business, or finance.

When you were growing up, what was your dream profession?
Training horses would have been the dream, but civil engineering was a close second. I found land surveying through civil engineering and because of a great surveyor named Roy Frank at SIUC.

If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which would you pick?
Google Earth/Maps, Music, Accuweather

Fast food chain - if you’re going to go somewhere fast, what’s your preference and order?
Wendy’s or Arby’s, Double cheeseburger or classic beef and cheddar.

Are you an early-bird or a night-owl?
Both, I have a 5-month-old right now. Usually, I’m an early bird but don’t tempt me with a good time, I’ll have you out all night as well.

What’s one of your favorite memories from the past year?
Getting married to my wife Brittany and having our little girl Madilynn. 

What trend do you hope makes a comeback?
Mullets have come back, although I never had one, I see little country kids running around with cowboy hats and mullets and it makes me laugh.