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Engineer’s Engineer
Chuck Robinson’s fascination with the way things work started at Detroit’s legendary Cass Technical High School. He absorbed all the math and engineering courses he could take and wanted more. “My goal was to be a student forever,” he says. After college, Kahn snapped him up, but he found a good way to keep learning. For years, he fit in courses at Lawrence Tech—but at the front of the classroom. “I was teaching engineering,” he says, “and to teach it, you have to learn it very, very well.” He learned it, all right—well enough to become one of the most renowned figures in his field, licensed in 46 states, and a leader of the firm, too, as Kahn’s President. Chuck’s been a key figure in the firm’s new era, advocating for improvements at every level. more...
He promoted the shift away from the apprentice model of hiring. “Now, we look for the best professionals and give them an opportunity to develop.” He pushed for greater openness. As Treasurer, he shares information widely. “We have the best educated board now that Kahn’s ever had. It’s not: ‘Who needs to know?’ It’s: ‘Everyone needs to know.’” And he pioneered the move toward full partnerships with clients and contractors. That led to landmark contracts like AM General’s HUMMER H2 assembly plant. Chuck earned the job, then saw it through as Principal, with Kahn working with AM General “as true partners. They told vendors that if someone from Kahn said something, it was just like it was coming from the owner. That’s where we want to be – sitting at the table when they make decisions, not bidding on the results.”
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