Meet an Expert: Rylie De Penning

At Interstates, expertise goes beyond technical knowledge; it’s about delivering practical solutions that work in the real world. As a Design Manager with our grains & milling clients, Rylie De Penning brings both deep engineering experience and a strong focus on coordination, clarity, and client alignment. In this Q&A, Rylie shares insights from the field, lessons learned from complex projects, and advice for both engineers and clients.

What's your area of expertise?

I serve as a Design Manager with our grains & milling clients, supporting key clients such as Ardent Mills. While my background is in power engineering, my focus today is broader. My primary responsibility is ensuring we deliver cohesive, high-quality designs that meet client expectations across all disciplines within our Design Services team.

What part of your role makes you most proud to be an engineer? 

I am most proud of delivering solutions that work in the real world. There is nothing better than seeing something that started on paper come to life in the field. It is one thing to develop a concept, but watching a coordinated solution operate safely and reliably within a live facility is what makes the work truly meaningful.

What advice would you give to someone new to the field? 

Technical excellence is essential, but the strongest engineers understand how their work influences the entire design and the client’s facility as a whole. Stay curious, ask why, and take the time to learn how the plant truly operates. The better you understand the client’s business and constraints, the more impactful and informed your engineering decisions will be.

What advice would you give to a client? 

Bring us into the conversation early. When we understand your operational priorities, risk tolerance, and long-term plans from the start, we can coordinate and deliver a fully aligned design solution. Our goal is to anticipate challenges, reduce risk, and provide a seamless path from concept through execution.

What is the most interesting project or challenge you've solved? 

One of the most rewarding projects I’ve been part of was a large remediation effort at a milling facility. The scope involved replacing eight electrical rooms of MCCs and switchgear, with only one 24-hour shutdown available each year. Sequencing the work to replace each piece of electrical gear without shutting down the plant required meticulous planning and out-of-the-box solutions. We had to develop a plan that not only looked good on paper but also would work seamlessly in the real world. It was a hard puzzle to solve, but ultimately, it was incredibly rewarding.

Can you walk us through how you approach solving a complex engineering problem when there's no obvious solution? 

After clarifying the client’s true needs, I often lay out potential solutions side by side in a simple evaluation chart. This allows us to compare options against key criteria, such as downtime impact, safety improvement, capital cost, schedule risk, constructability, and long-term maintainability. Seeing the tradeoffs clearly helps both our team and the client make informed decisions. Complex challenges rarely have one perfect answer, but organizing the information in a clear, objective way makes the right path forward much easier to identify.

What technology are you excited about? 

I am excited about how artificial intelligence can support engineering and design workflows and influence the next phase of industrialization. AI can serve as a powerful tool to improve consistency, identify patterns, and streamline repetitive tasks. Used responsibly, it allows engineers to spend less time on manual processes and more time focusing on high-value problem-solving and delivering better outcomes for our clients.

What gets you excited about your job? 

I most enjoy the relationships built through engineering. I have the opportunity to work alongside incredibly capable engineers and trusted client partners, and my role is to create clarity and alignment between them. When expectations are clear and trust is established, talented people can do their best work. Helping our teams and our clients move in the same direction, especially on complex projects, is both challenging and deeply rewarding. 

Rylie’s approach reflects what strong engineering leadership looks like at Interstates: clear communication, thoughtful evaluation, and a commitment to solutions that perform reliably in live facilities. By combining technical excellence with strategic coordination and client partnership, Rylie helps turn complex challenges into aligned, executable plans—demonstrating how impactful engineering is built on both expertise and trust.