From the Chicago Bears to CERN: Meet Thom Baumann-Neylon, Project Controls Consultant

The skills needed to become a successful project controls consultant can be developed almost anywhere. Thom Baumann-Neylon’s career has been a winding one, taking him from sportswriter to instructional designer and, finally, to his current role as a project controls consultant with Manta Ray Consulting. Each experience has provided him the tools needed to succeed in what he calls “the best job in the world.” In fact, he doesn’t think he would be successful today without his previous experiences.

Thom started his career path in sports journalism, covering the Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl run. As a sportswriter, he often faced tight deadlines, challenging interviewees and sharp critique from editors and readers, which gave him a skillset in client relations that has been integral to his growth at Manta Ray Consulting.

“It taught me how to speak in any situation with confidence and not get intimidated by larger-than-life personalities,” Thom says. “I also know how to craft a concise, but descriptive analysis and create an interesting lead that gets people’s attention.”

After earning a Master of Science in Education (majoring in industrial technology) from Northern Illinois University, Thom became an instructional designer and developed training programs for Fortune 500 companies. He focused on creating tools to measure problems and create solutions.

“It was important to make sure we were measuring the right thing and solving the right problem, which translated directly to project controls,” Thom says. “Once a solution was created, it had to be implemented across many systems, which taught me to consider the holistic picture.”

Shortly after accepting a new role within a telecommunications company, Thom discovered that the position’s funding had been revoked, so he quickly pivoted to a new job as a scheduler – a role he has remained in for nearly 20 years, four of which have been with Manta Ray Consulting as a project controls consultant. Here, he partners with clients like Fermilab and, most recently at CERN working on the European Atlas 2 Upgrade. In December 2019, Thom spent time in Switzerland, where he met with the CERN team and began a scheduling audit. He is excited to continue partnering with CERN this year, helping assess and optimize 5 schedules, 88 sub-projects and 14,000+ activities.

Thom sees ample growth in the future of project management and earned value management. He is particularly interested in seeing how evolving technology, such as drones, will be integrated into project management. Thom is proud to be a part of MRC as more companies turn to EVM to measure efficiency and output.

“We’re a team of All-Stars,” Thom says. “The MRC team is the Yankees of the EVM world.”