Mrs. McCluskey, Manager of Bridge Engineers at Consulting Engineering Firm
Published 27 Jan 2020
Tags: civil, engineering, management, women-in-stemWhy did you choose to pursue this career? What made you certain this was the right path?
Loved math, enjoyed inventing and building things and was fascinated with bridges, and their design and construction.
What events, prior employment, or educational experiences led you to your current job?
Pursued graduate school and then worked at multiple consulting engineering firms under excellent mentors in both design and management.
What schooling, education, and/or certifications did you complete to prepare you for this career?
BS Civil Engineering MS Civil Engineering
How did you make the best use of your time in both your education and career?
By focusing on bridge design and analysis methodologies, keeping as current as possible always learning from others and sharing knowledge with younger engineers.
What advice would you give to a high school or college student interested in pursuing this field of work?
Follow your passion, choose a field you love and learn as much as you can.
What opportunities would you suggest high school students participate in?
High school student should participate in co-ops and internships.
What opportunities did you take as a student that helped advance your career (research, internships, etc.)
Co-oped twice, once with a defense company and once with a consulting engineering firm. Applied for an undergraduate research grant and used the funds to conduct a research project in my field of study.
What does a typical day at your job look like?
Manage a group of bridge engineers, assign bridge related design and analysis tasks, oversee their work, answer questions, do budgets, communicate with clients, and review calculations and drawings. Work involves designing new bridges, evaluating the load capacity of existing bridges, designing member repairs, developing construction drawings and cost estimates, doing bridge inspections, and writing reports.
What was a surprising aspect of your job?
The importance of writing, communication, organizational and time management skills.
What qualities are necessary to be successful in your field of work, and why?
Precision to detail, teamwork, writing skills, independent learning, and thinking outside of the box. These are necessary because calculations need to be detailed to allow for ease of checking. Public safety is number one so calculations and drawings are checked multiple times.
Do you have any additional advice?
Get as much experience as you can. Work for different companies; each one is different, and you will learn something new from each one.