Torin Johnson was the top-scoring engineer during a recent placement exam for the Philadelphia Water Department.

Growing up in Upper Darby, Torin Johnson, ENG '16, remembers the "Welcome to Philadelphia" sign just down the road from his home. Now, Johnson is an Engineering Specialist for the Philadelphia Water Department, working on water main distribution design, sewer reconstruction and rehabilitation design, sustainable stormwater collection and retention design, as well as coordinating quality analysis and control for bidding projects at the construction phase.

He also recently was the top-scorer on a supervisory promotion exam at PWD, to which he largely credits his experience as a candidate for the Engineering Management MS program at Temple.

Welcome to Philadelphia, indeed.

"Ultimately, I wanted to go for a master's program that would pull me out of my comfort zone and teach me tools and skills that would prevent me from being put into an ideological box," Johnson said. "The Engineering Management program fits that want perfectly."

 Johnson leveraged courses like Lean Six Sigma, Management Principles for Innovators and Creativity Unleashed to pick up skills in process analysis, how to manage large scale engineering projects and how to fix and streamline workflows.

"I've been involved in a handful of executive innovation groups at my job where these tools have come very handy," he added.

Johnson hopes to advance within the water department, while broadening his impact on Philadelphia through his leadership experience as chapter president of Philadelphia Engineers Without Borders, where he is co-lead of a domestic project and member of the chapter's fundraising team, while regularly coordinating with the group's northeast regional arm.

It's part of a pattern that emerges when you speak with him: hard work and dedication to the city.

"One last thing I would add is to not give up on your dreams or goals in life. So often in life we encounter drama, anxiety or doubt that hampers our ability to grow and take a chance," Johnson said. "It's almost like a pattern or a script that we're pushed into following. But don't cut your journey short. Don't settle for less than your goals."

Learn more about the Engineering Management MS program at Temple University>