Written by Kate Eldridge, EIT, Mechanical Engineer Lifelong passions are often rooted in the teachers that support us on our path. I gained a love for math from a middle school teacher, “Mr. Scozz,” and passion for history from Mr. Virmilyea, a high school teacher. My passion for soccer… this came from my dad. Teachers plant the seeds. In 2008, I started my career as an HVAC engineer and was supported by many great teachers. They helped me gain an understanding of mechanical systems through site visits, coordination calls, and general project meetings. They helped me gain confidence in my des ..read more

Barbara at the Buffalo Central Terminal Altieri’s Women in Engineering group had the pleasure of hosting Barbara Campagna, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C as a guest speaker at our November meeting. We were delighted when Barbara agreed to join us to talk about her career and experiences in the A/E/C industry. When we read her blog post: Just Don’t Call Me a Woman Architect, we knew she would bring compelling stories and much for us to think and talk about. And we were right! Barbara is the Principal and Owner of Barbara A. Campagna/Architecture + Planning, PLLC. Altieri has worked with her on the Brick Ho ..read more

Altieri is in its 64th year of providing engineering design services to architects and building owners and, to this day, I continue to be the only female plumbing designer in the firm’s history.  I joined Altieri years ago with only a bit of experience in plumbing design. With the guidance of great mentors my knowledge and expertise in plumbing and fire sprinkler design grew. I left for a period of time to work for different firms – both smaller and larger than Altieri – and each of these firms had a female plumbing designer. Up until recently, I hadn’t thought much about being a female p ..read more

Written by Sara Josephson, PE, LEED AP BD+C, Associate Like many young professionals beginning their careers, when it came time to sharing my ideas in the workplace, I often found myself questioning my abilities. Despite doing the tried-and-true things such as being prepared for meetings, listening carefully to others, or practicing what I needed to present, I hesitated to make my opinion heard, wondering whether I should contribute or even if I would be adding anything to the discussion. As my career has developed, my confidence has grown. I have become a more effective communicator and, in ..read more

Written by Phil Steiner, PE, Principal and Managing Director, Altieri I am honored and grateful to be the first male contributor to wom(EN)gineer, a blog in which important conversations are happening. Increasing the number of women in our industry and throwing bright light on their contributions simply makes good sense. Achieving diversity within an organization has a positive impact on innovation, employee engagement, a firm’s ability to attract more diverse talent, all key ingredients to business success. As our own Amanda Cortese advises young women engineers in her recent wom(EN)gineer b ..read more

Written by 2023 Altieri Summer Intern, Maggie Mannella Josselyn Paute is a recent graduate of Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut. On June 8, 2023, she was presented with The John L. Altieri Memorial Scholarship. At BMHS, she was a talented student and leader with a “natural curiosity,” according to one of her teachers. She was an active member of quite a few school clubs including Book Club and Best Buddies and volunteered outside of school at a non-profit called Building One Community where she helped teach English to non-English speakers. Josselyn receiving her scholarship fro ..read more

Meet our summer interns (Caroline, Maggie, and Lizzy) as they report in on the value of a hands-on, collaborative experience! My name is Caroline Mancini. I graduated from School of the Holy Child this past June and will be a freshman at Davidson College in the fall.   Currently, I am assigned to a number of different projects and focused on mechanical systems. For one of the larger projects, Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, I studied an existing HVAC system in an underground collection vault to determine its effect on Altieri’s design for a new clean agent fire sup ..read more

I first toyed with becoming an engineer in high school. I took an engineering course and was one of two girls in the class. I didn’t think much of being in the minority, I just knew I was having fun building sumo cars and balsa bridges. Art class was also fun and I considered becoming an architect. Eventually I learned that Penn State University has an Architectural Engineering major. Best of both worlds, I thought, and this is what I pursued, graduating with both a BA and MA of Architectural Engineering.  Fast forwarding a decade… I found Altieri. Kismet! I could not have imagined a more ..read more

We officially launched wom(EN)gineer one year ago on June 23, 2022, (which happens to be International Women in Engineering Day – no coincidence here!). This year, to recognize the annual celebration of women in our field as well as our blog’s anniversary, we are reflecting on the success of our blog and a host of other accomplishments during the past twelve months.  Our initial intention was to create a blog that highlights the experiences and expertise of Altieri’s women engineers and discusses a range of topics relevant to women in the a/e/c industry. We quickly realized tha ..read more

Written by Susan Fisher Plotner (Altieri’s Director of Marketing and Business Development) The Exceptions is a must-read for women (and men) of all generations who are open to an unvarnished view of gender inequality in science and engineering as told through a real-life account of one group of courageous women who took on the system. Written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Kate Zernicke, the book chronicles systemic discrimination against senior female scientists at the esteemed Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the institution’s eventual admission – in 1999 – of its discri ..read more