About the Engineer Designer

Ken Risley, the Engineer Designer, has operated in the residential and commercial construction industry in Florida since 1976. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE32668) with emphasis in building, architectural and structural engineering;  is a graduate of University of Florida in the field of Engineering Science and Mechanics and holds a State of Florida General Contractor Certification (CGC010458).

Ken was born in Tampa, as was his father (Guy 1928) and his grandfather (Captain Pete 1897). Though born in Tampa Ken grew up in different areas of the United States, including Alaska, California, Washington DC, Ann Arbor Michigan and Dayton, Ohio (where he spent most of his high school years). He spent a year living on, rebuilding and sailing a 50 foot wooden yawl rigged sailboat. There he learned many skills as a ship’s carpenter, sailor, survivor and appreciator of other styles of living. As a young man he competed for an won a full Air Force scholarship which paid for his engineering education at U.F.  During those days he backpacked through Europe, was a spelunker, an avid Scuba Diver (certified in 1969), earned his pilot’s license, and was an officer and manager of a 90 person coop in Gainesville, Florida where he lived.  As he finished his university years the Vietnam war ended and the Air Force, due to cutbacks, found itself unwilling to send Ken through their Air Force Pilot training program. Ken was offered the opportunity to get his commission as an officer or to simply not serve. “Due to my 99 percentile pilot aptitude tests I was guaranteed in a contract to be sent to UPT (Under Graduate Pilot Training) as soon as I gained my commission. But since the Air Force did not want to spend a million bucks training another pilot that they did not need I was offered the option to remain civilian. Since I would not  be able to strap one of those beautiful jet airplanes to my butt (my dream at the time) I elected to not be a “ground-pounder” and to take my leave. It was a pivotal decision in my life but I have never looked back. I have loved everything about the life I chose – and today I own an airplane which I park in my own hangar and get to fly on my terms.”

As a Design/Builder for numerous years, he has gained significant experience combining his skills as a designer with the realities of construction. He has personally designed and built commercial structures of many types and residential projects of a wide variety. He is NOT an “ivory tower” designer devoid of real-world experience.
“I design not only with an eye for aesthetics, but also with a keen awareness of how it will be built – of what will the subcontractors might ask and what will they expect to see in the plans.“, Ken says.

Today he focuses his professional skills on residential and commercial engineering and design.

“The permitting agencies, since the Code change of March 1, 2002, and again in October 2005 and December 2006 (and most recently in March 2009), are requiring a great deal in their plans. Builders and owners are faced today with a more complicated permitting process. In the mid 70’s and early 80’s I could literally take my house plans to the County, and walk out with a complete building permit in about 2 hours. This was in Hillsborough County, one of the larger counties in Florida. I would stand there while the plans examiner reviewed the plans, asked a few questions, and signed-off. Today that sounds like science fiction. Builders and owners now face an incredibly complex process and must provide extensive information on the plans. As a result I focus my professional attention onto helping builders and owners deal with this facet of the process.“

He does so by providing excellent and thorough design and construction drawings ready for permitting and ready to build.

Professionally, he has served as state-Chairman of Florida Engineers in Construction, Chairman of the Florida Engineering Professional Development Committee, and a past member of the Tampa Board of Realtors. As a Member of Florida Engineering Society, National Society of Professional Engineers, the Florida Energy Commission, he was selected as outstanding young engineer for Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties in 1986 and 1987. He served as Chairman of the Hillsborough County Code Enforcement Board for six years.

Aside from his engineering/design activities, he is an owner of a preschool in Tampa which he expanded into a 125 student facility. This facility, today, operates under the direction of a partner. Additionally he is owns, with a partner, a building company called Premier Design and Construction which operates in Central Florida. “After leaving the construction field to pursue design and engineering and moving to Central Florida I was talked into getting back into the building business. I did it, mainly, to help keep my hands on the pulse of the field. There is no substitute, experience-wise, to dealing with the guys (and a few gals) in the field who are getting the construction job done. It makes you a better Engineer and Designer”.

Personally, Ken is a jazz musician, an avid pilot, and Extra Class Ham operator (W8VD) along with numerous other interests. As a pilot, he has flown patients with special needs to medical facilities for treatment throughout Florida and Southeast U.S. as part of the Angel Flights program. To promote aviation, he has introduced children to aviation by giving them their first flights as Young Eagles; part of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).

Ken and his wife, Kimberly, live in an aviation community in Central Florida (in an airport home he designed and built); sons, David and Bryan, are 32 and 28 respectively. David owns PC Media, PC Mechanic, and is a professional blogger and teaches people how to harness the internet for fun and profit. He and his wife Melika, and Ken’s grandkids,  Elyanna and Nathan, live in Tampa. Bryan is an former airline pilot who left that position to finish graduate studies in accounting and is now a CPA and Instructor Pilot; he and his wife live in Lakeland.

Ken’s personal website is: KenRisley.Com