Tom Bentsen, 29

Tom Bentsen went big with his job change in August 2022. 

He transitioned from the prominent engineering firm JB&B to SL Green Realty, New York City’s largest office landlord. Specifically, Bentsen came on to direct the engineering work at SL Green’s One Madison Avenue, probably the city’s most closely watched adaptive reuse project. Largely completed in late 2023, it included adding a 26-story office building to the address’ 19th century podium.

To this day, Bentsen is responsible for the 1.4 million-square-foot One Madison’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and management systems. His One Madison work also required coordinating with the commissioning provider and construction manager, and their subcontractors, on a pull-the-plug test in June 2024 — that is, simulating over several hours a complete breakdown in energy supply to the tower, whose anchor tenant is IBM and whose other tenants include cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks. (Spoiler: The test went off without a hitch.) 

“Now I’m trying to actually make these systems run as efficiently as they can and still hold the contractors from the past accountable for the work, to get that done properly,” Bentsen said.

Meanwhile, Bentsen also works on what he describes as mini-projects — including a dedicated outdoor air system for One Madison and related air pressurization issues — and responding to any problems that might arise. 

Bentsen grew up on Long Island, and said he always wanted to work in the big city. He turned an interest in thermodynamics into a mechanical engineering degree with high honors from Binghamton University. His JB&B experience introduced Bentsen to the wider field beyond the HVAC work he was most familiar with. And he said the pandemic, which forced him (and a lot of others) behind a computer more, gave him an appreciation for turning designs into realities — something he can do in his current role.

“For now,” Bentsen said, “I’m really interested in how pen and paper — or computer and software — meet the physical world of our operations.”