Janice Mueller, a CADD Tech at Abonmarche, has been with our firm for more than 20 years, making her one of our resident experts on all things Abonmarche.
- Early Bird or Night Owl: Early Bird
- Coffee or Tea: Tea
- East Coaster or Out West: Out West
- Favorite Travel Spot: Havasu Falls, an area of waterfalls on the Havasupai Indiana Reservation located in the Grand Canyon, Arizona
- Creative Outlet: Needlepoint of rock concert tickets. I’m working on one from a Rolling Stones concert that my husband I went to a few years back.
- Favorite Stones song: Start Me Up
How did your career first take shape?
I earned my degree in Interior Design from Purdue University, and I spent a few years doing corporate and residential design in Fort Wayne.
How did you make the shift to CADD?
At the beginning of my career, there was no CADD; we were all drafting. I went back to school and earned a second degree in CADD at Southwest Michigan College (SMC), and my next-door neighbor, worked at Abonmarche, heard that I was studying CADD. Shortly after that, I started as a CADD Technician at Abonmarche, and I never left!
From your view, what is the most noticeable change in the industry?
The precision in technology is the biggest change I’ve seen throughout the years. When everyone was beginning to make the jump from drafting to CADD – that felt like such a huge shift. Before, you could never draw that precisely. The technology we now have at our fingertips is incredible.
What is your area of focus at Abonmarche?
I work with our surveying and land development teams, as well as with builders and contractors who build homes. I collaborate with a client to position each house on its lot correctly, taking into consideration a number of competing factors, such as zoning requirements, easements, drainage, municipal services and natural slope of the land for septic design. Many times, it’s in a subdivision that our own team has designed and developed which is really neat to be able to work on.
When people hand you the plans for a new home, it’s a really rewarding experience to be able to look at the land and the work that needs to be done to create that home, and help manifest that reality for them.