Special Teams Spotlight: Carol Painter

At Special Teams, our greatest strength is our people. Every successful project, every trusted client relationship, and every breakthrough solution we deliver starts with the expertise, dedication, and creativity of our team. In this Q&A series, we’re shining a spotlight on the individuals who bring our work to life — the engineers, designers, and problem-solvers who tackle complex challenges and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Their stories are at the heart of what makes Special Teams…special.

Carol Painter | Senior Systems Engineer

What do you do at Special Teams?

I currently wear multiple hats. I do some mechanical design, I help establish and maintain our systems engineering first principles documentation, I work to bridge customer ideas and expectations to a feasible and effective solution, and I am always looking to help with new customers we can help in some way.

Describe your ideal project.

My ideal project is being given any complex, multidisciplinary problem with a passionate and excited customer. I enjoy working through the details to define the problem and working with a diverse group of people to find the best solution. I also enjoy projects that evolve as information is discovered to ensure the best solution is found for our customers.

What is special about Special Teams?

Special Teams is a group of naturally curious people that enjoy getting to work together on complex problems. Our specialty is in systems engineering and we enjoy applying systems thinking principles to new and diverse applications. We are industry agnostic and love to work on anything from broad feed forward decarbonization models to specific well defined product development.

What is your walk-out song?

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by Gayla Peevey.

How did you discover your passion for engineering?

One summer when I was in high school, I went to a month long architecture camp that included a week of architectural engineering. The project for the week was each team had to build the tallest structure they could out of the same amount of tooth picks and string. I remember the first day we had a lesson on how string is best used in tension but not compression and how toothpicks can be made stronger when bundled together.

I had already determined that architecture wasn't the right path for me as my artistic abilities are sub-par at best but that evening I called my father, an engineer, and told him about this building exercise and how cool I found the lesson on the material's different strengths and weaknesses. We then talked through the different engineering disciplines and I decided that that was what I wanted to do!

What work are you most proud of?

I worked on a team that developed and implemented multiple models that allowed us to study fleet truck performance at a mine for a baseline diesel truck as well as varying reduced emission mining trucks. We were able to estimate truck performance in regards to diesel consumption reductions, the total cost of ownership, and therefore the marginal abatement cost. Over time, these studies were used to help shape product definitions allowing us to marry the engineering to the customer needs. I am really proud of the integrity and reliability we were able to bring to both our customers and our engineers through the use of these studies.

What's one piece of advice you'd give to someone new in your field?

Remember to level set yourself throughout a project to make sure you're staying on track. It's good to zoom out at varying points in a project's development and double check that what you're doing is still in line with the original project intent. Sometimes when you get too far into the weeds, you can lose sight of what is important and remembering to take a step back and level set can help you not feel like you're spinning your wheels too much.

Give us your favorite sports metaphor that can be applied to engineering.

I don't really know sports very well but I do know that with clear eyes, and full hearts, you can't lose.

What do you like to do outside of work?

In the winter I like to downhill ski and in the summer I like to swim, surf, garden, and mountain bike. I also love to travel year round.