Vincent Lee-Thorp
Vincent Lee-Thorp was interviewed for BookCast by Fairfax County Public Library Director Sam Clay.
Vincent Lee-Thorp worked as a mechanical and electrical engineer in Washington, D.C. for forty-five years. His consulting firm successfully completed more than 2,000 projects, including projects in the White House, the Washington Monument and the Capitol.
His book, Washington Engineered, follows the evolution of Washington D.C. from the first ferries across the Potowmack River in 1740 to the building of railroads, subways, the President’s House and the formation of NASA.
Lee-Thorp attempts to show the reader the similarities between the art of painting and the art of engineering. In his introduction he says: “The painter touches our minds with the skill of his hands; the engineer brings a living system to actually touch our hands and then our minds.”
Lee-Thorp is past president of the Washington Chapters of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers and the Consulting Engineers Council. He is a past representative of the International Energy Organization in Paris, and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.