Donnie Roberts

When you hear somebody say their life was changed by a book their grandfather gave them, you might think of one of the classics but for Donnie Roberts the book had a much more auspicious title: “Basic Wiring.”

Donnie’s grandfather was a mechanical engineer at General Motors and noticed a combination of curiosity and aptitude in his grandson. Math and science were the subjects Donnie excelled at and that was the right book at the right time. It drew Donnie’s interest to electrical design and that interest steered him into the engineering program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

It was luck, or something like it, that drew him to ME Engineers. Donnie found his first job out of college with a commercial contractor as an electrical field engineer, but a demand that he relocate just two months later, and not long before his wedding, put him back into the job market. Shortly afterwards he applied for a position at ME.

The curiosity that he discovered in “Basic Wiring” helped Donnie dive into every project, some of the biggest ME has taken on. Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium is in his backyard, or at least his hometown, but some of his other favorites include UBS Arena, Geodis Park and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. These projects pushed him to develop his skills not only as an engineer on a challenging project but also as a representative of ME, able to plug into client teams and understand how important client interaction is to the success of venue design.

In his down time, you’ll find Donnie enjoying family bike rides with his two kids on a beautiful nature trail that encircles his neighborhood or playing in a co-ed volleyball team with his wife. He also enjoys a feisty game of ping pong over the lunch hour in the Kansas City office and considers a trophy from a recent ping pong tournament between ME and a local structural engineering firm to be among of his proudest possessions.

More About Donnie

• Based in Kansas City
• B.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering: University of Missouri-Kansas City

Project Highlights

• UBS Arena
• GEODIS Park
• CITYPARK
• T-Mobile Arena
• Dudy Noble Field, Mississippi State University

Expertise

• Electrical Engineering
• Lighting Design
• Fire Alarm
• LEED/Sustainable Systems