Did you know only 30% of female engineers remain in the field after 30 years?! And of those that leave, 30% cite workplace climate.

In honor of Women’s History Month, ms connected collegiate women with leaders in the industry to support and answer questions about what it means to be a woman in engineering.

Watch our Women in Engineering panel.

ms consultants’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee organized a small, virtual panel of professional women in engineering to educate and answer questions for collegiate women in engineering fields. Because women are underrepresented at higher levels in the industry, the panel showcased success stories, empower young women, and give an opportunity to ask questions and share stories.

The one-hour panel covered topics like:

• What’s the biggest hurdle you’ve faced as a woman in the industry and how did you overcome it?
• What advice do you have for young women entering the engineering workforce?
• How did you decide on your career path?

Find out what our panelists had to say about these topics during our Women in Engineering panel.

Our panel was comprised of five women with impressive careers in the industry. These women have experience in leadership roles, the private and public sector, and even in starting their own firm.

Lisa Huang, PhD, PE, RCDD decided to start her own company after a decade of working at large engineering firms. Her vision was to provide the best quality engineering design services with a personal touch. In 1998, Advanced Engineering Consultants was created in the basement of her home. Today, AEC is a highly respected MEPT engineering firm with four offices and over 70 employees, a large percentage of which are registered Professional Engineers.

Leslie Montgomery, PE, joined ms consultants in June 2020 after a long career at the Ohio Department of Transportation as a project manager and project engineer for District 6. Her expertise is in project management during all phases of a project—planning, design, construction, and maintenance. For ms consultants, she oversees the transportation services group that includes highway, traffic, and bridge engineering.

Val Croasmun, PE, AICP, is a civil engineer and Certified Planner, specializing in traffic engineering and transportation planning with ms consultants. She has extensive experience in project management, planning, and public involvement for a variety of transportation projects. At ms consultants, Val leads business development for transportation in the Central Ohio region.

Lori Niese Duguid, PE, PTOE, serves as the Deputy Director for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 6 office. Lori has over 23 years of experience in the industry, primarily in traffic and transportation, with an emphasis on multimodal planning and emerging technology, with experience in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Kim Kennedy, PE, is the director of the Engineering & Construction Division at Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALOCSAN). Before joining the Authority, Kim worked in the engineering consulting industry for twenty years. She has worked on several complex Consent Decree-driven, large-scale wastewater treatment plant and pump station upgrades with responsibilities including detailed design and management roles for pre-design, design, bidding, and construction phase services.

Learn more about each of our panelists and their journeys as women in engineering during our Women in Engineering panel.

Were you inspired by our Women in Engineering panel? Interested in career and internship opportunities in the field? 

You can find potential career and internship opportunities alongside these inspiring panelists at Advanced Engineering Consultants, ms consultants, Ohio Department of Transportation, and Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN).