The Village Behind an Engineer: Israel Olugbemi
Israel currently works as an Electrical Design Engineer II in P2S | CMTA’s Seattle office. But the better story is how he translated the skills he already had into the tools, workflows, and communication habits needed to do the work well.
“I had to catch up quickly to be able to do the things they needed me to do,” Israel said. Sean Prendergast, one of his coworkers, had the patience to walk him through unfamiliar work and offer advice inside and outside of the office. A three-month buddy program with Luke Johnson gave Israel another regular place to ask questions and align his technical foundation. “It helped me sharpen my technical skills, my AutoCAD skills, and my Revit skills,” he said. “It made the transition much smoother for me.”
What stands out is how ordinary the support sounds. Someone made time, answered his questions, and noticed when Israel needed help getting up to speed. That consistency mattered more than a polished promise about culture.
Sean told him, “When you have a question, come ask. No matter how silly the question sounds, come ask.” Israel took that seriously. Later, while preparing for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, he returned to Sean with questions, and Sean shared study materials and guidance from his own experience.
Israel does not credit the team in a way that erases his own effort. He studied for three months, including two hours after work and at least 10 hours a day on weekends. Israel’s advice for anyone who is studying to achieve their goals and pass an exam is: “You are more capable than you think. The limitation to what you can achieve is the one you place on yourself.”
This way of working reminded him of his home. Israel grew up in Nigeria, where community often meant an open door and very little concern for who technically owned the space. He found a version of that closeness in the Seattle office. His team helped him translate and improve his technical skills into the U.S. system, supported him while he completed his master’s degree, and pushed him toward the next credential instead of letting him wait for a perfect time. His next step is already clear: deepen the technical knowledge behind his title and earn his professional engineering license.
“Everybody genuinely cares about everybody in my studio,” Israel said. “That is the reason why I wanted to come back, and that’s the reason I remain.”
