For more than 50 years, Mike Joyce, Senior Engineer based in Hawaii, has built a career defined by client service, innovation, and lasting relationships. Since joining KJ in 1975, he has contributed to projects that benefit communities, advance wastewater solutions, and reflect the values that continue to guide the firm today. Even after five decades with the company, Mike remains actively engaged in the industry through client relationships, professional conferences, mentoring younger engineers, and helping shape innovative solutions for utilities across the Pacific region.
Learning from Industry Leaders
When reflecting on his career, Mike credits several early mentors with shaping his approach to engineering and client service, including John Jenks and David Kennedy, highly respected engineers and leaders whose influence helped shape Kennedy Jenks, as well as Bruce Wyckoff, an engineer Mike describes as "truly inspirational." Their technical expertise, commitment to clients, and leadership left a lasting impression and helped guide the work he continues today.
Building Solutions and Relationships
Mike’s work advancing anaerobic digestion and co-digestion is one of his most significant contributions. Beginning in the late 1980s, he worked alongside clients to explore ways wastewater treatment facilities could generate renewable energy by diverting food waste into treatment processes. Those efforts demonstrated how utilities can turn waste into a valuable resource while improving sustainability and efficiency. Mike also works with KJ’s Hawaii team, introducing the concepts of co-digestion and cogeneration to the wastewater industry in Hawaii with an active project at the Waianae WWTP.
While technology and industry practices have evolved over the past five decades, Mike says the most rewarding part of his career has been the relationships built along the way.
"I think you get a lot of career satisfaction out of these trusted advisor relationships that you're able to develop with clients. One relationship that really fostered my own career was with Jim Bewley at Silicon Valley Clean Water. Working together, we developed ideas that helped advance co-digestion, and those kinds of partnerships are what make the work meaningful."
Why KJ?
When asked what has kept him at KJ for more than 50 years, Mike points to the firm's employee-owned culture, commitment to integrity, and the opportunity to pursue work he enjoys. Throughout his career, he has valued being part of an organization where employees share in the firm's success and where honesty and ethical behavior remain fundamental principles.
For the next generation of engineers and consultants, Mike offers this advice: "You need to pursue the line of work that excites you. If you're excited by it, you're much more likely to do well." As KJ recognizes Mike's 50+ years of contributions, we celebrate not only his technical expertise but also his dedication to clients, colleagues, and communities. His career reflects the values that continue to guide KJ today: integrity, trust, service, and a commitment to building lasting relationships.
About Kennedy Jenks
Kennedy Jenks is a leading water and environmental engineering and environmental sciences firm that serves public agencies and private-sector clients with ~500 employees nationwide. The employee-owned firm delivers innovative design, construction, and technology solutions for water and environmental projects across the United States.
Media Contact
For more information about Kennedy Jenks, please contact Media@KennedyJenks.com.
The information on this page was accurate at the time of publication.
