Ryan Chase
Drafting Manager
• Favorite quote:
My favorite silly quote: “Say goodbye to your two best friends. And I don’t mean your pals in the Winnebago.” -Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
My favorite serious quote is: “There is no greater love than this: that a person would lay down his life for the sake of his friends.” – Jesus Christ (John 15:13)
• What do you do at AEO?
Run the drafting department, design/draw building blueprints, and perform quality control.
• What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position?
I have 10 years of experience in drafting and design at Alliance Engineering. I am a former employee who left, but has recently returned.
• What do you like about working at AEO?
This place is my home. The culture here is a great one, with great people around me. I love designing buildings and drawing blueprints, and I am good at it.
• What’s your background?
I am from Oregon, born and raised. I have lived up and down the valley throughout the course of my life, from Portland down to Eugene. I went to high school in McMinnville, and I currently reside in Salem, where I have lived for 15 years. My entire family lives within an hour drive. I spent one year in Bible College in Southern California. I went to Chemeketa Community College here in Salem where I studied Computer Science and American Sign Language. I also have a certificate of completion as a Marion County Deputy Sheriff correctional officer from Chemeketa.
• What are the values that drive you?
As a Christian, I rely on traditional Judeo/Christian values as my foundation, but I also find myself becoming a bit more liberal on some social issues. Overall, I would probably consider myself a Libertarian, with a mix of liberal and conservative ideals.
• What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
I am very much into geek culture. I love video games, comic books, and Star Wars. I enjoy attending Comicon events, and Marvel and Star Wars movies at the cinema. I also love music, ranging from heavy metal to various forms of classical, bebop, and free jazz, with such musicians as John Coltrane and Miles Davis. I love going to live concerts, which I do once a year minimum with my daughter. We just saw “The 1975“ at Memorial Coliseum about two months ago. I love attending Portland Trailblazer games, Duck and Seahawk Football games, and Mariners baseball games. I enjoy hiking with my family in exploration of various well known, and hidden waterfalls around the Pacific Northwest. I also enjoy golfing, which I am not good at. And I enjoy playing poker with the guys, which I am very good at. I have recently begun painting abstract art. I have purchased many canvases and a variety of paints and brushes. I am currently in the middle of painting my second painting. While it may seem like I have a lot of hobbies, I do them sparingly (with the exception of my video game habit). Overall, my children are my life.
• In another life, I am pretty sure I was a peasant of some sort. I’d like to think that I was a great knight in England, or a famous explorer, but statistically speaking, peasant just makes more sense.
•If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd start a variety of non-profit organizations to help underprivileged people, such as sending young people from low-income families to college. And, you know, I’d keep working here as well.
•The best piece of advice I had ever been given was to know exactly who I was. To know my identity and my role, and to walk confidently in that.
• If I could invent a holiday, it would definitely involve spending no money for gifts and cards. And it would definitely involve booze and food.
• What advice would you give a candidate who wants to join our team of superstars?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. We don’t bite.
•If I weren’t so damn good at my job, I would probably be back working for the telephone company from whence I came.
• Cats or dogs? Dogs
• My favorite word in the English language is juxtaposition.
• My favorite word that has no direct English translation is…
I have literally never thought about this before. This word your asking of me does not exist. But if I had a gun to my head, I’d have to say it’s whatever word of exclamation that Groundskeeper Willy (The Simpsons) yells when he is surprised. I believe it’s “Yegats” or something to that effect. I image though that there is probably and English translation for it.
• What's the most inspiring part of your job?
I would have to say that the most inspiring part of my job is that I feel very wanted and needed in this place. I have something to offer.
•The most important thing I learned before high school was to never piss off a woman.
•If I were a superhero, my superpower would be the ability to magically know anything and everything I wanted. If this includes reading people’s minds, then so be it. I would be like the Lex Luthor, Megamind, Professor Xavier of the superhero world.
•When I was 5, I was pretty sure I'd be a professional baseball player when I grew up.
• If you were a pasta shape, what shape would you be and why?
What are the rounder ones with the cheese stuffed inside? Yeah, I’d be those. But someday I hope to shoot for the more skinny and muscular pasta shapes."