2021 International Women in Engineering Day
June 23 is International Women in Engineering Day! This year’s theme is Engineering Heroes. We caught up with a few of our employees to find out who their engineering heroes are.
“My engineering hero is a woman I met through a professional organization, a geology organization. It’s a woman named Susan Steele Weir. She was one of the first tunnel engineers as a woman to go underground. She paved the way for other women going underground and she has been very involved in The Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, gathering the women within that group together. She recently in the last year or two set up a scholarship for other young women who are interested in the geosciences to continue getting involved in that career and spread that passion to the next generation of women in engineering and geology. She is absolutely someone’s ‘boot steps’ I would love to follow as my career goes on.”
-Morley Beckman, Senior Associate, Longmont office
“My engineering heroes are all of the women in leadership within Schnabel, and the engineering industry. It’s a position I strive to reach one day and seeing other women excel in leadership is empowering.”
-Ally Boyd, Senior Staff Engineer, Chadds Ford office
“Dr. Burns was my soil mechanics professor at the University of Virginia over 20 years ago. That soil mechanics class was, without a doubt, my favorite class in college, and Dr. Burns’ passion for and knowledge of the subject and fun teaching style was a major reason why I chose to pursue a career in geotechnical engineering and why I’m still doing it 20 years later. I can’t thank Dr. Burns enough for the impact she has made on my career. Dr. Burns is now a professor and Associate Chair for Administration and Finance in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech, and does a tremendous amount to both serve and lead the geotechnical engineering community. Her current students are lucky to have her!”
-Jonathan Pittman, Senior Associate, Greensboro office
“My engineering hero is my mom. She is a civil engineer and sparked my passion for dams and water infrastructure before I went off to college. She continues to motivate me to grow in my career to this day.”
-Carmen Lepsch, Senior Staff Engineer, Chadds Ford office
“Kim Pate is the Chief Dam Safety Engineer for Seattle City Light (SCL). Over the past few years I’ve had the privilege to work with Kim, and her dedicated dam safety team, on a few of SCL’s amazing projects. What I love most about working with Kim is her passion for what she does. Her passion is contagious and makes working with her and her team interesting, enjoyable, and rewarding. Kim takes the time to understand the nuance of her projects which undoubtedly leads to a better dam safety program. Kim is a great role model and I hope to continue our collaboration well into the future.”
-Hawkins Gagnon, Senior Geologist, Greensboro office
My engineering heroes are all of the women in leadership within Schnabel, and the engineering industry. It’s a position I strive to reach one day and seeing other women excel in leadership is empowering.