To recognize and celebrate International Women in Engineering Day (June 23), 彩宝网平台在做一些不同的事情. 今年的主题是工程英雄. Liz Kleinsorg, our Senior Vice President, 权力 Practice – is our very own Jensen Hughes hero. 高级领导, 企业家, 彩宝网专家, 导师, 和一个高技能的机械工程师, Liz has chosen to share her story of becoming an engineer and her advice for the next generation of women choosing to pursue a career in engineering.
My path to engineering as a career choice is an interesting one. 从9年开始th 年级时. Swanson, my math teacher, told me I was good at math. 到那时为止, 没有人鼓励过我, and that slight push gave me the confidence and motivation to work hard. 我发现我喜欢数学. As a kid, I was always interested in power plants – to this day, they still fascinate me! 我爸爸是一名机械承包商, and I would go on service calls with him on the weekends while I was in high school. 在大学, 当到了选择专业的时候, my Dad’s union organization was offering scholarships to sons and daughters who were majoring in Engineering. 从那时起，我的事业诞生了. My Mom also played an essential part in my early years. She always encouraged me and told me I could do anything or be anyone I wanted to be.
My first job in engineering was with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a co-op student. I visited numerous nuclear power plants and learned all about their safety systems. And to this day, I am a massive supporter of nuclear power.
After graduating from Berkeley with a shiny new degree in Mechanical Engineering, 我去了一家叫Impell的公司工作. 我面试了很多公司, but Impell was filled with energy and purpose and was a great fit for me. I threw myself into becoming an expert in a field that I enjoyed: 消防 and Fire Safe Shutdown, services which I still offer today. My passion for those services was valued not only by the company I worked for but also by the clients who came to know and trust me. 随着我事业的发展, I learned the immense value of surrounding myself with intelligent people. It really does take a village to deliver quality services, and the peers and 导师s I worked with have become lifelong friends and made me a better engineer.
跳一跳
Twenty years into my career at Impell (lots of different coffee mugs!), I decided to leave and start my own company, the Kleinsorg Group, in 2000. While it was a risk to go, it has been one of the most rewarding choices in my professional life. It was a challenging but enjoyable time in my life – building teams, 与客户交谈, 发展业务. In 2004, 我把公司卖给了休斯公司, and together we formed the Kleinsorg Group Risk 服务, a Hughes Associates Company. This was the catalyst for acquiring other engineering firms to build out the portfolio of services that we have today, ultimately growing from $600K in revenue to a peak of $75M. 通过这个过程, I learned quite a bit about business – something I had not anticipated when I set out in my career as an engineer. 在此期间, I also learned the importance of always being prepared – you never know what life may throw at you and believe in what you are doing.
You’ll notice that I don’t talk much about the challenges of being a woman in engineering. 在这方面确实存在挑战. But what drove me was to strive to be the best at what I was passionate about. 这一直是我的指路明灯, which holds for women today who are considering or pursuing a career in engineering.
对我来说，这意味着:
- 在我的技术领域处于彩宝网领先地位
- 发展业务
- 组建团队
Sometimes, a lifelong passion can start with a tiny bit of encouragement at an early age. 根据 研究 done by the Society for Women Engineers, only 7.1% of women in university pursue a major in engineering or computer science, compared to 26.7%的男性. Women still make up a small minority of the engineering workforce, and about a 1/3 choose to leave their engineering careers. 还有很多工作要做, but I hope my story shows that the path to more women in engineering can start small. Thanks to my parents, who gave me the confidence and the encouragement that I needed.
