September 3, 2020
Welcome to the eleventh in our series: GSO Profiles. Each post will feature a brief interview with a member of the GSO community. With COVID-19 restrictions in place since mid-March, many faculty, students and staff have not been on the Bay Campus. But for some community members, their jobs require them to be on campus every day, and the pandemic has presented them with new work challenges. Highlighting them in GSO Profiles is one way we can show our appreciation for all their hard work. Here’s one such person.
Seth Pilotte, the Narragansett Bay Campus (NBC) Facilities Coordinator, works as a team with his supervisor, David Palazzetti, the Director of NBC Facilities and Operations, to keep our campus running and to keep our facilities functioning for research, teaching, and administration. Although they both have offices, both are more likely to be found anywhere else on campus! It is likely that everyone on campus has interacted with Seth or Dave at some time and has been greeted by a smile (though now it’s covered by their mask) and their “can-do” attitude.
Here’s Seth in his own words:
GSOP: Tell us about your pre-COVID-19 work at GSO: what question are you trying to answer?
SP: Can you maintain and improve a research facility with an extremely tight budget?
GSOP: Tell us in general how your work at GSO has changed since mid-March when most people began to work remotely due to COVID-19.
SP: In some ways the job got easier since there were fewer people on campus. But HVAC systems still have to run, generators need to be tested, and domestic water still has to be provided. Also, there was a lot of extra work generated by URI COVID Task Forces policies to provide a safe operating environment for the campus.
GSOP: What special projects are you doing that are COVID-19 related?
SP: There are quite a few projects I am currently working on. We have been assessing buildings and entrances for safe reopening configurations, revising capacities for classrooms and meeting spaces, procuring and managing distribution for COVID-19 safety supplies, and coordinating with the URI COVID-19 task force to ensure we are in compliance with University policies. In addition, we have recently revised our key distribution and vehicle sign-out policies to allow for safe operation for our staff and customers. The GSO maintenance and custodial teams have been working since the onset of the pandemic on tasks such as signage installation, long term furniture storage, and installation of many new sanitizer and disinfecting wipe dispensers across the campus. It is important to note that most of our staff do not have the ability to work remotely, as their job duties require them to be on site to perform. We are lucky to have a great crew here at GSO and everyone has really stepped up to meet the demands of these challenging times. Please thank them for their hard work if you see them on campus.
Another great project we were involved in was our Shipping and Receiving Department (Erma Celani and Matthew Champlin) assisting Vice President for Research & Economic Development Peter Snyder with a humanitarian aid project to ship pallets of ventilators to Ghana and Indonesia.
GSOP: What COVID precautions do you now take in your work?
SP: Wearing a mask inside all URI buildings would be the big one. I try to wash my hands anytime I’m inside a building, but at a minimum I will grab some sanitizer which is conveniently located inside all building entrances. Of course, washing your hands frequently is the preferred approach and should be done as often as possible.
GSOP: What is your favorite thing about your work?
SP: It’s hard to believe but something breaks on campus literally every day. It makes the day go by quickly trying to solve all the problems that pop up. And we get to do fun things such as deliver items or travel across campus using one of our seven environmentally friendly electric vehicles.
GSOP: What led you to this type of work?
SP: I have a background in Civil Engineering and Construction Management which gave me problem-solving skills and a thorough knowledge of the different types of building systems. Getting a job in Facilities was a natural fit.
GSOP: What brought you to GSO?
SP: I began managing roofing and small projects at main campus in Kingston in 2015. I was able to visit GSO several times to investigate roofing issues. When the previous coordinator retired, I applied for the position.
GSOP: Who have been your role models or mentors?
SP: Dan Cartier was my supervisor in Kingston, and he is a get-things-done-at-any-cost person. He showed me the ropes regarding purchasing rules and the standards we should be striving for. My current supervisor Dave has been great for passing on his facilities knowledge from his time as Director of Facilities at the Coast Guard Academy, and basically teaching me how to deal with the crazy situations that occur in our line of work.
GSOP: What do you do for fun?
SP: Oh man, my wife will say I have too many hobbies. I have been coaching youth soccer with my two daughters for the last 7 years and serve as the equipment coordinator for the Portsmouth (R.I.) Youth Soccer Association. I recently was voted on to the planning board for Portsmouth. I also recently received my Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) degree from URI. The MESM degree was really fun since I was able to work on some cool projects with notable GSO personalities such as Teresa Crean, Pete August, Chris Baxter, and Pam Rubinoff. I also play guitar, brew beer, kayak fish and golf (but not very frequently).
GSOP: What is your favorite spot or view at GSO?
SP: I have a pretty sweet view out my office window.
GSOP: What is your advice for someone considering your line of work?
SP: If you like zero downtime and constantly putting out fires, then I would say you should consider it. It is great getting to work with all the people at GSO from the scientists to the Endeavor crew to the ocean engineers and the GSO Facilities team. I really do enjoy helping people and trying to make URI a better place for everyone.