Innovator, Collaborator, True Design Builder: Matt Volgyi Shares Insight on His Career as a Leading Healthcare Engineer

Innovator. Collaborator. True Design Builder. Matt Volgyi, Principal Engineer, is the leading healthcare principal engineer for Southland's Southern California Division. Matt recently won Southland's Founder's Award, which is given through Southland's yearly awards show that recognizes outstanding individuals and teams for their contributions. As the Founder's Award recipient, Matt demonstrates extraordinary leadership qualities, consistently makes exceptional contributions to Southland, and continuously goes above and beyond the expectations and responsibilities of his position.  

Kicking off his career, Matt received his degree in mechanical engineering and HVAC design in Budapest, Hungary, and has designed HVAC for healthcare projects across the world. With 20 years of consulting engineering experience, Matt first took a design-build position at Southland when he initially joined the company in 2004, viewing it as a rewarding opportunity where he could see a project through from design through completion.   

Since then, Matt has become informally recognized as the leading healthcare engineer in Southern California. Involved in healthcare and technically-challenging projects, he is well-respected in the industry for his collaboration, expertise, and efficient mechanical designs. From projects at St. Jude Medical Center and Kaiser Downey, Matt has exemplified excellence throughout his impressive career.  

"What I enjoy most [about my role] is the learning. I've been doing this for quite a few years, but I learn every day. There are new technologies coming out all the time, whether we have to incorporate them into our designs or not."   

With experience on over 32 healthcare projects, Matt makes it a point to share his extensive knowledge about healthcare mechanical design with his colleagues, working with other rising engineers in the industry.  

"To become a good engineer, it doesn't matter how smart or well-educated you are, you need to learn from somebody who knows what they're doing, especially for hospital design."  

When asked to reflect on the project Matt was most proud, he responded, "I'm so extremely proud of every one of them."

"Matt Volgyi's Founder's Award is well-deserved because he is a life-long innovator, partner, and collaborator that has delivered successful projects throughout his impressive career. If you are building an intricate design-build project in Southern California, Matt Volgyi will be the first name that comes to mind. In any teaming opportunity with healthcare or laboratories in Southern California, Matt's involvement is always requested in the pursuit or the design of the project." – Jose Felsmann, Preconstruction Executive.

From inspiring other young rising engineers to making a difference in the facilities where patients receive care, Matt Volgyi is a testament to the original principles and founding ideals Southland was built upon and ultimately exemplifies what the Founder's Award is all about.