Jessica Borries
Project ManagerWater
Jessica Borries is all-in on everything she pursues, from her career in the Armed Forces to her work as a project manager providing critical, sustainable water treatment, supply and systems solutions.
Prior to joining the company, Jessica served for five years on active duty as a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. At Burns & McDonnell, as a project manager and process engineer, she continues her dedication and commitment to serving the public through the municipal water and wastewater treatment facility projects she leads. Throughout her career, she’s supported dozens of projects across the U.S.
What inspired you to pursue your career?
I have always loved math and science! When I was young, one of my favorite books was “The Magic School Bus At the Waterworks.” While for a time I was interested in aeronautical engineering, I never lost interest in water treatment design.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I am an Army veteran with deployments to Iraq and Africa, and a former Division I college tennis player who at one point also rode a unicycle and juggled.
What’s the coolest part of your job?
Aside from the people I work with, one of the coolest things I love to do is called jar testing. This uses an apparatus to simulate the water treatment process on a small scale. We can take a municipality's raw water and chemicals to test different treatment strategies and help us and our clients make informed treatment and design decisions.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Keep raising your hand but remember that you don't always have to.
What excites you most when you look at the future of infrastructure?
Our infrastructure is aging, and everyone is facing challenges with limited resources. Making improvements to replace, repair and rehabilitate for this generation and the next is so important. It's very exciting also to see how our company collaborates internally. The further into my career, the more collaboration takes place. And seeing all the great projects we work on, offering new perspectives and learning new things has been awesome.