Bradley Clay, a two-time Missouri S&T alumnus, puts his engineering and leadership skills to work as a member of the S&T staff. Here is a Q&A with Clay in commemoration of National Engineers Week 2026.

What does a typical day look like for you as Missouri S&T’s senior assistant director of construction services?
I’m not sure if there is such a thing as a typical day. As the senior assistant director, my job is to lead and manage the construction service group in the design and construction office. Usually, this involves meeting with contractors and consultants to check on the progress of our construction projects, meeting with my staff to do training and development, and working on construction reports for administration. I could spend my whole day in the office or could spend much of my day in the field on construction projects. This gives my days a lot of diversity, which I really enjoy. No two days are alike. 

You recently became a two-time Missouri S&T graduate, earning your MBA this past December and your bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 2016. How has your S&T education influenced your career path and approach to leadership?
My bachelor’s degree laid the foundation for the beginning of my career at Archer-Elgin. I was a teaching assistant for the surveying course for Dr. Dick Elgin my senior year and was able to utilize that relationship to get a job in Rolla — my wife’s hometown. My degree from S&T helped prepare me for the professional engineer exam by being well rounded on civil concepts and the difficulty of the material.

I then moved to Missouri S&T as a project manager and led design teams through the design of many projects you see on campus, such as the new pedestrian underpass and the Welcome Center. I took advantage of the university’s benefit of reduced to earn my MBA. This degree program has given me many tools for leadership, negotiation, finance and general executive functions, which have been useful in my current role and hopefully will be for many years to come.

After beginning your career as a civil engineer in an industry role, you returned to work at your alma mater. How did it feel to come back to Missouri S&T in 2022?
It’s a lot of fun to be able to work on projects on the campus that I walked for many years. I have a lot of great memories all over campus that I get to remember as I’m working across campus. There is a sense of pride in continuing the great reputation of Missouri S&T through improvements to campus. 

The 2026 Engineers Week theme is “Transform Your Future.” How does your work benefit the future of Missouri S&T’s campus and the students who learn here?
Working for higher ed gives me a lot of purpose in my work. It’s exciting to make a lasting impact on the future of education for so many students, and the research that goes on here has an impact across the world, so it’s a lot of fun to play a small role in making that a reality. I try to take opportunities to teach future engineers, whether it’s through on-site tours with the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, acting as a client for the civil senior design project or working on projects with our design and construction interns.

What advice would you give current students or recent graduates who are considering careers in civil engineering or construction management?
In school, engineering always has an exact answer. The answer is either true or false or multiple choice. In construction management, the answers are often much more nuanced and gray. Relationships far outweigh being right, so whenever possible, pick the option that helps the most people. Assume you’re right, and you’ll be wrong 5% of the time. Assume you’re wrong, and you’ll be right every time.