“The ability to attract young women is a significant challenge faced by the engineering community,” the National Academy of Engineering wrote in an influential 1999 editorial in its publication, The Bridge.

By granting three of the most competitive engineering awards in the state to women in 2014, all University of Vermont Civil and Environmental Engineering alumni, UVM and the state of Vermont are doing their part to demonstrate that women can find success and have rewarding careers in the field.  

Carolyn Carlson, ’85, was named Vermont Engineer of the Year for 2014; Jennifer Fitch, ’02, was Young Engineer of the Year; and Karin Emanuelson '14, was named Vermont Student Engineer of the Year. Carlson and Fitch graduated with degrees in civil engineering, and Emanuelson with a degree in environmental engineering.

“I’m proud of the success our alumni and students are having and of the role UVM is playing in changing perceptions of the engineering field,” said Luis Garcia, dean of UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. “We work hard to make the college an accepting and supportive environment for women. There’s more work to do, but signals like this one show progress is being made. That’s encouraging.”

Carlson, a senior project manager in the Structures Section of the Vermont Agency of Transportation, earned her award for her active work in the Vermont Society of Engineers and for the management she provided to the design/build team responsible for widening the Checkered House Truss Bridge in Richmond, the first large truss bridge in the United States to be widened. Truss bridges are recognizable for the connecting triangular metal supports that enclose the bridge.

Fitch, a project manager in the Accelerated Bridge Program of the Structures Section of the same agency, was selected for her community service and for leadership on two projects: rebuilding the Sand Hill Bridge in Middlebury, which required extensive community outreach, and replacing four bridges in Rochester, two of which were damaged by Tropical Storm Irene, during a highly compressed bridge closure period, minimizing the need for a 37-mile detour.

Emanuelson, hired after graduation as a consultant in the water division in the Boston-area office of ARCADIS, a global engineering consulting firm, was honored for her academic achievement and extra-curricular involvement. 

Based on the experiences of Fitch and Emanuelson, times have changed at UVM's engineering college since Carlson attended the university thirty-plus years ago, when there were no women on the faculty and her relationships with her professors, now warm and long-standing, developed only after she graduated.

“I had amazing professors when I was at UVM, and they were extremely supportive of me and the other students,” said Fitch.

“It’s a really great place,” said Emanuelson. “I loved the size of our program. You can always sit down with your professor. They’re happy to help.”

Women faculty members like environmental engineering professor Donna Rizzo, an active researcher, were also important to her, Emanuelson said. “She was a huge role model for me. It was so inspirational to see her be such a good teacher but also have all these other research achievements.”

PUBLISHED

11-19-2014
Jeffrey R. Wakefield