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I graduated in 1999 from
UWP here with a
degree in civil engineering
and my emphasis, emphases
were transportation, geo-technical and environmental
My primary focus is aviation
so I do airport projects
of all different types
and one of my primary
primary focuses is the La Crosse airport
Right now I have a very unique
project where they have
we're constructing a taxi-way
and there are some
environmental impacts
so we have environmental mitigation to do
so that combines some of my emphases
in college
the transportation side of it
the environmental side of it and
we're doing a lot of earthworks
so I should say we're
doing the geo-technical side of it too
So I've combined all those things that I've
learned on an airport project
which is a lot of fun
Platteville really is known for applying
learning a lot of things
and having students coming out of college
being ready to apply them
and understand how to apply
what was learned
my boss says that all the time that
he loves getting Platteville students because
they're ready to hit the ground running
We hire a lot of co-op and intern
Platteville students
at my company
because we know they do have a great
background and ...
and I think
um, professors and
ah, placement services push
Platteville students to get
co-op and internships if they can
And that helps with the real world experience
and knowledge once you graduate
being able to jump right into the projects
So definitely, Platteville students
have a great reputation for that.
The biggest changes that I saw at
when I came back for the
Women in Engineering banquet
was probably just how the support structure
has built
especially the Women in Engineering program
When I ... my earlier years here, it was
getting off the ground
And some of the support systems
were just starting to come into play
But now hearing about some of the
mentorship programs that are available here
um, some of the study group rooms
where it's people in your major
and you can stop in here
Um, one of the people I went to
school with at the time,
an alumni at the banquet, she said
"We just had Tammy's office to all huddle in!
Now they have a whole study lounge."
So to see how things have progressed
was pretty impressive to me
and see that support group growing
that networking availability growing
And there was never a Women in Engineering
banquet when I went to school here
So to see that growth continue
and some of that support was really
encouraging to see
And it was one thing that just stood out
to us and we all said
"Oh, I wish we had that when we were here."
I've recently been talking to
Tammy Salmon-Stephens and
um, when the opportunity came up for me to
speak at the Women in Engineering banquet
it really got me interested
and now that my niece is an engineering student here
she's an electrical engineering student
really started getting back into
"Well what's going on at Platteville?"
Um, I haven't been on a campus tour
in a long time
I hear through the alumni publication
and the website that
oh this building's going up
and oh this new dorm's going up and it's
really neat
And, um, the engineering building
I think that's great, it's just amazing
and reading one of the latest publications
about um, the I don't know if it's the
nanotechnology area
So, some of those things I thought were just great
Platteville's really pushing forward
to be in the future and to
see what's upcoming in the future
And really seeing where maybe
programs can be helpful
Women in Engineering programs can be helpful
and what it can do to
make people feel more comfortable
as you're going to school here
and make them more confident and
more, ah, maybe prepared for the future too
So the Women in Engineering program I think is great
and the strides Tammy has
implemented through the years where it
started and where it's come
The Resident Engineer for Excellence Award
that was for a project we did
at the La Crosse airport
and it was, um, a problem at the airport the way
the taxiway and the two runways
met that were
it was a safety issue
And the FAA brought it to the airports attention
and said "I want you to
fix this and reconstruct this and
come up with a solution
and have it constructed within nine months."
So it was really nice to get recognized
Usually sometimes as an engineer
the best is when you don't hear your name
because sometimes when you hear your name
there's trouble
So we like to stay in the background and
use our calculators and measure things up
and stay out of the limelight a little bit
But it's always nice to get recognized
by your peers and by other people
Um, and the nomination process is through
different engineers, the DOT
and people in the construction industry
nominating the projects
so it's really people who are
closely in tuned with what's going on
um, nominating you, nominating the projects
So that was really exciting
to get that recognition
and for everyone who worked on the project too
to get the recognition
So it's great
My family, I have a wonderful husband who
we got married in 2005
so since then we had a son
Lawson is his name
and he's two years old
and we have another baby
on the way expected in November
so that's exciting and you know when I say
some of the
struggles with balancing family and career
I'm definitely going through that
That's always something
But in general there's always a balance
between when you're in college
a balance between between having fun and studying
before you have a family, working too hard
and having a social life too and now
probably less in the social life for me and
balancing work and family is really a priority for me right now
So that's kind of where I am with things with the family life