{"id":8417,"date":"2022-09-22T10:00:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T15:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=8417"},"modified":"2022-09-22T10:00:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T15:00:50","slug":"uw-platteville-engineering-alumnus-turns-imagination-into-reality-with-custom-playgrounds","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-platteville-engineering-alumnus-turns-imagination-into-reality-with-custom-playgrounds\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Platteville engineering alumnus turns imagination into reality with custom playgrounds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Music-themed playground Clement Park in Littleton, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

University of Wisconsin-Platteville alumnus Tommy Jacobs spends his days bringing people\u2019s imagination to life. As a custom lead design engineer at\u00a0Landscape Structures<\/a>, in Delano, Minnesota, it\u2019s his job to take clients\u2019 most creative ideas for playgrounds and turn them into reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day is always different,\u201d said Jacobs. \u201cWe are building a brand-new product in some fashion each day, so it\u2019s never stagnant. But, it\u2019s also one of the most rewarding jobs to have \u2013 building things for communities and kids to be able to interact, grow and develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacobs is originally from Hartland, Wisconsin and graduated from UW-Platteville in 2010 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He has worked with Landscape Structures for nearly five years and oversees a team of nine engineers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we get designs that are bigger challenges \u2013\u00a0whether it\u2019s manufacturing or structural. It\u2019s all problem-solving. We get the picture of how it should look and we figure out how we can make it look like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacobs estimates, in his time at Landscape Structures, he has helped build at least 200 playgrounds. Once his team receives a design, a typical turnaround time for manufacturing the structure is anywhere from four to 18 weeks. Jacobs has worked on international projects, including in Australia, Vietnam, Spain and South America. Some of his most memorable ones include Clement Park, in Littleton, Colorado \u2014\u00a0a music-themed park that features a trombone-shaped play structure; Lantana Ranch Park in Chandler, Arizona \u2013\u00a0an airport themed playground, complete with an air traffic control tower; and Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix, Arizona, with oversized custom animal structures that children can climb inside and interact with.<\/p>\n

Over a decade into his career and having worked with colleagues nationwide, Jacobs reflects on the advantages his UW-Platteville education gave him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn talking with others from [larger engineering universities], I think I got to experience a lot more hands-on interaction, instead of only theory,\u201d said Jacobs. \u201cThere was opportunity for more intimacy with teachers; I didn\u2019t deal with TAs. I got to be direct with professors who I was taking classes with and had a lot more tangible exploring of engineering, rather than just on a computer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEngineering has always been super rewarding,\u201d continued Jacobs. \u201cI would encourage anyone who has a desire for problem-solving or sciences to get involved in the field. There is always such a need in the world for engineers, especially mechanical engineers, and the possibilities for work are so endless.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about engineering at UW-Platteville, visit\u00a0www.uwplatt.edu\/engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Written by Alison Parkins<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwplatt.edu\/news\/engineering-alumnus-turns-imagination-reality-custom-playgrounds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Wisconsin-Platteville alumnus Tommy Jacobs spends his days bringing people\u2019s imagination to life. As a custom lead design engineer at\u00a0Landscape Structures, in Delano, Minnesota, it\u2019s his job to take clients\u2019 most creative ideas for playgrounds and turn them into reality. \u201cEvery day is always different,\u201d said Jacobs. \u201cWe are building a brand-new product in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":8419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[93],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-8417","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-platteville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/8417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=8417"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=8417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}