Engineer Edward "Ed" Butera spent hours constructing models from the time he was a five-year-old boy in San Jose, California. Besides his interest in building and design, the young Butera also loved math and music—specifically the clarinet, at which he excelled, and which he still enjoys. After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at San Jose State University he was hired by Ralph Joeckel as a consulting engineer for Trane, a heating and air conditioning company. Joeckel became a mentor and "second dad" to Butera after the company sent him to Las Vegas in 1972, and the two remain close to this day. In this interview, Butera shares how he engineered and designed power, water, sanitation, utilities, and heating and cooling systems on many Clark County high schools, hospitals, and data centers while considering such factors as the building's shape and its affect on the way wind forces act on its glass, windows, and doors. He talks of his casino work that began with the Stardust soon after he arrived in Las Vegas, and before his client list grew to include Tony Marnell, Steve Wynn, and MGM. Besides the hotels, he shares his experiences engineering the infrastructure for the Bellagio fountains, The Mirage volcano, Treasure Island's pirate show.

Narrator affiliation: Benefits Specialist, Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company (REECo)

Narrator affiliation: Senior Employment Representative, Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company (REECo)

This photograph has three images. The first one (0272_0040) reads, "Early morning on grave-yard shift, day shift coming on, notice lunch boxes. Hardway Johnnie (John Armitage) the graveyard Asst. Super. Coming down to see why they are slow getting to their jobs - that's me right behind him." "The men nicknamed me Hardway Jr. I relayed his orders. He had a hard time walking those 2x12 boards on top of the forms - they did install rails later, as you can see, but didn't weather the rough treatment - (xx) elevator shaft." "I got a lot of learning under John Armitage. He sent me to relieve on so many different jobs. Had clean up crew for three months - also I ran the pours with #5 hi-line until it could reach the dam no more, with the angle it sat. Tied steel on intake towers two nights." "Most fearful job was relief hook tender on the stiffleg. The job was situated on a pad on the upstream face of the dam, about level with the low-mix trusel, with just enough room for two of the 8 yd. buckets - the stiffleg would leave a bucket of mud - pick an empty one - No.6 hi-line would leave and empty one and pick up the empty. The men stood as flat as they could - during the exchange with the bucket down. The men would grab the swinging steel cables in one hand, the 12 pound hook that felt like 50 pounds. Place cable on eye in bucket, then twist hook down and slam in place - no guard rails." The second one (0272_0041) reads "Intake towers growing. The bottom of the picture shows a finished pour - it must cure for 12 hours in the hot weather, and 48 hours, cold weather - 300 ft. down if you step off the end of this panel (see arrow)," as a handwritten inscription. The third one (0272_0042) reads "The morning after my first night of work, with Dickey" (dog).