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Victoria Ballestero '14, MBA '18

Few children really know what career path they want to pursue prior to entering high school. When asked, many will say they want to become a firefighter, doctor, nurse or professional athlete.

For two-time Clarkson University graduate Victoria Ballestero 14, MBA18, civil engineering was always part of her career plan.

I tell people that I am a freak of nature because I knew from the time that I was 12 that I wanted to be a civil engineer, Ballestero says.

A native of Ballston Spa, New York, Ballesteros meteoric rise in the civil engineering and design industry was cemented when she was recognized as one of five recipients of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) National Young Professional of the Year Award. She was also recognized as the ACECs 2021 Metropolitan-Washington Young Professional of the Year. Ballestero received earlier recognition as the Maryland Building Industry Association Rising Star Award in 2019 and was named the Outstanding Young Engineer of the Year in Maryland in 2018.

The national ACEC award recognizes professionals under the age of 35 who have contributed to the engineering industry and made an impact on society.

I was a little emotional, Ballestero admits of her response to getting the phone call informing her of the award. It is truly such an honor to be recognized. The work that land development engineers do is really understated, so to receive acknowledgment on a national stage for my efforts is deeply rewarding.

To be a young woman and getting this recognition is also very important. Much of this industry doesnt yet represent the diverse population right now, so thats something that I have been cognizant of as I have been building my team. We have a diverse group, and I couldnt have done it without them.

Ballestero credits being around her familys business, a site civil construction company in Saratoga Springs, New York, with being influential in her early desire to become a civil engineer. She describes her father, Antonio Ballestero, as an industrious, entrepreneurial, self-taught, second-generation construction superintendent who would bring home site plans and mark them up with a red Sharpie. He instilled in me the importance of constructability of design. That influenced my desire to design projects that are practical and make sense off paper.

Upon earning her bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Clarkson, Ballestero joined D.S. Thaler & Assoc. in Baltimore as a design engineer, where she learned the fundamentals of land development engineering, zoning, land use and entitlements. She later accepted a position as a project engineer at AECOM in 2016. Ballestero was hired by ATCS, PLC in Largo, Maryland, in 2018 to launch the firms Prince Georges County, Maryland, office, where she leads a team of professional engineers, planners and land surveyors in delivering innovative solutions for the residential, commercial, mixed-use, institutional and industrial sectors. She is a mentor to junior staff across the organization and a corporate champion for continuing education, professional development, women in leadership, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Ballesteros site civil engineering experience in the D.C. metropolitan area includes the pioneering of curbless street design in The Yards West, near Nationals Park, a host of residential subdivisions, a veterans housing project and an array of mixed-use developments, among others.

Clarkson prepared me exceptionally well for starting a career in civil engineering, Ballestero says. But in this industry, there are some things that just cannot be learned in a classroom. You cant fathom some of the challenges you will face until youve actually experienced them. There is a lot of on-the-job training.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Ballestero serves as president of the Maryland Society of Professional Engineers and vice president of associates on the executive committee for the Maryland Building Industry Association. She is a board member for the Foundation for Applied Construction Technology for Students and a member of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Council at Clarkson.

Passion is a word Ballestero uses frequently but does not take lightly. She founded a scholarship at her high school alma mater for students who are enthusiastic about volunteerism, something in which she has immersed herself throughout her life. Im a firm believer in making frequent deposits in the cosmic karma bank. It is important to give back without expectations of getting anything in return, Ballestero says. Of her time volunteering with Clarkson, Ballestero said, It is imperative for those who have been given the opportunity to reach back with a helping hand to support the communities that empowered them to flourish.

Outside of her professional commitments, Ballestero is married and has run nine marathons, including the Boston Marathon. She is a triathlete, a rock and ice climber, a backpacker and an avid traveler.

With so many recognized accomplishments under her belt, Ballesteros focus remains on site civil engineering projects that will impact the underserved. Though ATCS is a multidisciplinary engineering consulting firm, my greatest interests are in solving complex land development problems to improve the community, Ballestero says. Shaping the landscape of my community and mentoring the next generation of engineers is what gets me out of bed every morning.

Excerpt from:

Freak of Nature Clarkson Graduate Named National Engineering Association's Young Professional of the Year - Clarkson University News

December 13, 2021

In todays workplace, technological developments and a greater awareness of responsible innovation and inclusivity are taking on a radical new shape. To lead the way in this paradigm, the University Technology Office at Arizona State University has recently entered a new era of embracing the modern workforce,unleashed under the name of UTO 2.1.

As part of this agile structure and way of working, UTO has reorganized and reprioritized its teams, their members and their work under four cores these include Engineering, Products and Projects, Data and Analysis, and Service Delivery. The Engineering Cores renewed approach to human-centered design is supported by its accompanying technical innovations. Download Full Image

The Engineering Core prioritizes the people practicing digital transformation as much as the people who benefit from it. Utilizing a how we work model, which is still nascent in higher education but has proven an exciting and effective development in private industry, advocates for diverse collaboration. Based in this model, Engineering has crafted maturity for DevSecOps, which is the constant development of IT operation at UTO and ASU.

The DevSecOps framework facilitates the new ideas that the Engineering Core supports: We are capturing an architecture for culture, orchestration and next-generation platforms that enable digital trust, digital equity and more, and these are the tangible outcomes of the transformation taking place within DevSecOps, said Nathan Wilken, executive director of UTO Engineering.

A key outcome of the Engineering Cores DevSecOps model involves freeing up the capabilities of UTO minds by furthering automation goals. So a solution to automate everyday manual tasks that take up time needed to be created to offer more creative opportunities for staff. Thus, the Engineering Core built an orchestration platform that supports the DevSecOps concept, which streamlines much of the development process for various products and services.

An orchestration platform automates the configuration, management and coordination of computer systems, applications and services,according to Red Hat. In other words, an orchestration platform streamlines, by removing time-consuming manual tasks, many of the processes involved with offering tools and software to the ASU community.

Before its integration, code was developed, passed off to various teams in a linear manner and finally deployed after a time-consuming process that often didnt allow for agile pivots or inclusion of new features on the fly. However, this orchestration platform automatically accomplishes many tasks previously delegated to multiple teams, such as quality assurance and testing.

Human error around design and deployment is eliminated so an individual does not carry the burden, Wilken said. This doesnt remove jobs, but improves them. It lowers their (peoples) cognitive load and allows them more time to engage with stakeholders and customers, unlocking human potential instead of relegating them to undifferentiated heavy lifting.

This new approach allows for teams to be built from different disciplines. Developers, DevOps engineers, systems administrators and more work together from the start of the process, rather than handing off to each other without much prior communication.

An outcome of this process lies in My ASU, the portal through which everyone at ASU conducts their learning, teaching and working.

My ASU is kind of special because there are so many (ASU colleges and units) who need changes made to support their processes throughout the year, said Cat Harper, portfolio owner of student success and My ASU product owner.

Now, we can meet the student life cycle.

With the orchestration platform in play, three or four of Harpers developer colleagues can work on separate pieces, which can be deployed when ready, rather than bundled into one release that requires much more time and coordination.

For example, the Experience Center was receiving a number of calls related to financial aid. Working with the Financial Aid Office, Harpers team was able to quickly design, develop and deploy a pop-up box of helpful articles to address questions about how to pay bills. And call traffic was reduced to the Experience Center, satisfactorily answering questions more quickly.

Im really proud of the team because they ask, What is the value to students? and turn things around really quickly, Harper said.

My ASU developer Jason Harper provided an example of how this more agile process also allows for other, forward-thinking solutions.

Its a journey, and were still on it, to automate, he said.

There are other products and processes that can be brought into the orchestration platform, not just My ASU.

(The orchestration platform) has allowed us to set out on this journey while still supporting the university, he said.

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Engineering group unlocks the creativity of University Technology Office minds with automation - ASU Now

Penn Engineering Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Dedicates New Suite to Foundational Figures

Forty years ago, Penn Engineering established the Office of Minority Programs, centralizing the schools growing efforts to recruit and retain a more diverse and representative body of students and faculty members.

Now known as the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI), this branch of Penn Engineering is redoubling its commitment to this mission. As part of the $10 million in DEI investments laid out in the schools strategic plan, Penn Engineering has prioritized physical spaces where students can come for support, collaboration and community.

Last week, ODEI cut the ribbon on its new suite in the Towne Building, featuring a conference room and study space dedicated to two of its foundational figures: Cora Ingrum, ODEIs former director, and Donna Hampton, the offices longtime administrative assistant.

The Donna Hampton Study Space features a modern, comfortable architecture intended to encourage informal student gatherings and group work. Surrounding the study space is a suite of offices for ODEI staff and the Cora Ingrum Conference Room, which can be connected to the study space to accommodate larger gatherings.

The ribbon cutting was preceded by a gathering of faculty, staff, students and alumni, celebrating the honorees and the four decades of progress they inspired.

There, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion C.J. Taylor, Raymond S. Markowitz Presidents Distinguished Professor in Computer and Information Science, and ODEI director Laura Stubbs provided a retrospective of the schools DEI efforts, many of which Ms. Ingrum established in the decade preceding her appointment as director of the Office of Minority Programs.

Alumni also sent in video messages, showing how much Ms. Ingrum and Dr. Hamptons office mattered when they were feeling isolated or discouraged by the added pressures of being an underrepresented minority student.

A virtual tour of the new ODEI suite can be found at https://diversity.seas.upenn.edu/virtual-tour/.

Cora Ingrum was the director of multicultural programs in Penns School of Engineering and Applied Science. She had worked there for over 55 years, starting out as a department secretary in 1960, fresh out of high school in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, near Atlantic City. When I came to Penn, it was not open in the way you think, she once said. Students would come in, but there were so many barriers for African-American students. You cant do this. You cant do that. You wont make it. Why are you here? Why are you in my class? People would actually say that to students.

For 21 years, Ms. Ingrum served as the co-investigator and director of a National Science Foundation LAMP grant designed to increase underrepresented minority candidates for bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines at Penn.

To read more, visit https://thepenngazette.com/cora-ingrums-legacy/.

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Penn Engineering Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Dedicates New Suite to Foundational Figures - UPENN Almanac

Standing on stage at Pat Dye Field in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn University alumnus and former Accenture Chairman and CEO Joe Forehand offered sage advice to the schools newest group of graduates during fall commencement ceremonies on Friday night.

Forehand encouraged graduates to expect more from themselves than anyone else, develop mental toughness through hard work, learn from overcoming adversity, create opportunities for themselves and their colleagues and to enjoy the journey.

You will find discoveries along your journey that will give you the motivation to set that higher goal or standard for yourself, Forehand said. At some point, you will have to rely on your instincts and intuition when the right decision is not clear. If you want to create opportunities, you are going to have to continue to learn and continuously reinvent yourself to remain relevant in our economy and society.

Friday nights address also included the official conferral of more than 2,000 degrees by Auburn Board of Trustees member Michael DeMaioribus, as well as the group recognition of undergraduate students graduating with academic honorsand an official welcome to the Auburn Alumni Association from President Regenia Sanders.

Forehand, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering at Auburn in 1971 and a Master of Science in Industrial Administration from Purdue University, summarized his remarks for the newest group of Auburn University alumni.

Remember, its not too late to set higher expectations for yourself, he said. Embrace mental toughness to overcome whatever obstacles are in your way. Dont just solve problems, use a rational optimism to believe that we have not yet seen the worlds biggest discoveries.

Be a disruptor, reinvent yourself frequently, and above all, enjoy the journey. And remember the last sentence of the Auburn Creed: I believe in Auburn and love it.

Forehand led Accenture to a top 50 global brand ranking during his tenure, orchestrating its initial public offering, or IPO, in 2001. Forehand increased Accentures revenue from $9.6 billion to $13.7 billion and added nearly 40,000 employees to its workforce.

He also served as a senior advisor with the private equity firm Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts and has served as chairman of the board at First Data Corporation and Aricent.

Forehand also offered leadership advice to the more than 2,000 graduates assembled at the stadium.

Real leadership means creating an environment where everyone celebrates the successes of their peers, not undermining them to get ahead, Forehand said. It means creating an environment where each team member performs to the highest of their potential and takes pride in reaching shared goals. Real leaders recognize they must be great teachers, who know the importance of sharing knowledge and wisdom so that they become a force multiplier and impact the world in a positive way.

Forehand has been inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame and the Auburn University Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. He also has received the Auburn University Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Management at Purdue.

Forehand was named Consulting Magazines Consultant of the Year, Information Weeks 15 Most Inspirational Leaders in Information Technology, Computerworlds Smithsonian Honors Program, CRNs Top 5 CEOs and the Institute of Industrial Engineers Captains of Industry. He has served on the Auburn University Foundation Board and was co-chair of Auburns $1.2 billion campaign that concluded in 2018 and has endowed numerous scholarships and professorships at Auburn.

The university capped Friday nights program with a thrilling fireworks show, and all graduates were able to have their photos taken on stage at Pat Dye Field and their names displayed on the jumbotron in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Saturdays commencement ceremonies for undergraduates were moved to Auburn Arena due to inclement weather.

Walter Walt Woltosza two-time Auburn University graduatereceived an honorary Doctor of Science from the College of Engineering on Friday night. The honor, the 160th honorary degree in Auburn history, was unanimously approved by the Auburn Board of Trustees in its April meeting for Woltoszs service to the university, state and nation, and for service to mankind.

Woltosz earned a bachelors degree from Auburn in aerospace engineering in 1969, a masters in administrative science from the University of Alabama at Huntsville in 1976 and a masters in aerospace engineering from Auburn in 1977. He worked in the aerospace industry from 1971-83, developing simulation and modeling software to design solid propellant rocket motors and missile systems.

Woltosz and his wife, Ginger, founded Words+ Inc., a leader in developing augmenting communications systems for people with severe disabilities, including Sir Stephen Hawking. Hawking used the Words+ Equalizer and Words+ EZ Keys programs to continue his groundbreaking work and write several books, including A Brief History of Time.

He also founded Simulations Plus Inc., where as chairman and former CEO, he oversaw the advancement of one of the nations premier high technology companies dedicated to providing leading-edge pharmaceutical simulations and modeling software in health care. As a leading authority in those fields, Woltosz has published dozens of articles in highly respected publications such as the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, or AAPS, Journal and the Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design, where his work has been widely recognized as being highly innovative and pioneering.

Woltosz serves on the Auburn University Foundation Board, Auburn Alumni Engineering Council and Auburn University Research Advisory Board. He was inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2008 and in 2016 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Auburn Alumni Association.

Im very happy to be receiving this, and its quite an honor, said Woltosz, and accomplished aviator who holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate, as well as a helicopter rating. Auburn is a magical place that gets into your blood. My bloods red, but I swear its orange and blue if you put it under the right light.

Woltosz and Ginger have generously donated to numerous areas of Auburn University, including the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Gogue Performing Arts Center, Auburn Athletics, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Architecture, Design and Construction, the Division of Student Affairs and War Eagle Motorsports. The Woltoszes are members of Auburn Universitys 1856, Petrie and Foy Societies and Athletics Pat Dye Society, as well as the College of Engineerings Eagles, Keystone and Ginn Societies.

A total of 2,021 graduates participated in the commencement celebrations, including 406 masters degrees, 105 doctorates and 17 specialist degrees. The remaining 1,493 were bachelors degrees.

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Engineering alumnus Forehand offers sage advice to Auburn graduates during fall commencement speech - Office of Communications and Marketing