On Tuesday, September 17th, the WTS Boston Programs Committee will be hosting the Women of the Big Dig panel.
Registration for this event will close on Friday, September 6th or earlier once the venue reaches capacity. This event is Non-Refundable and no shows will be billed. There is a two (2) Table limit for this event.
Moderator:
Marie Breen is a national consultant to public and private sector clients, drawing on over 25 years of transportation, rail, and major infrastructure project leadership experience, to provide strategic advice to facilitate the delivery of complex transportation infrastructure and transit-oriented development projects. Marie has held senior roles on the Boston Harbor Project, the Big Dig and the Green Line Extension Project. She has served as the Chief Legal Officer for public and private entities including MassDOT, the MBTA, Mass Turnpike Authority and the Mass Bay Commuter Railroad. Marie served as the Chief Counsel for the Big Dig Project and is currently Vice President for the DBE/WBE transportation consulting firm, RND Consultants, Inc.
Panelists:
Nhuy Hoang has over 36 years of professional engineering experience at the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). In her current role as the Deputy Director of Capital Programs & Environmental Affairs, she is responsible for supporting delivery of Massport’s multi-billion capital programs for all of Massport’s facilities including Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, Worcester Regional Airport as well as Massport maritime facilities in the Port of Boston. In the early part of her career, as a Project Engineer, she led Massport’s efforts to coordinate all of the Central Artery/Tunnel’s design and construction issues on Massport properties in East and South Boston throughout the entire duration of the Big Dig Project. Ms. Hoang, a licensed Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, graduated with a BS and MS in Civil Engineering from MIT in 1987 and 1988.
Margaret O’Meara is a transportation professional with over 40 years experience in the Design and Construction Industry. Throughout her career in both public and private sectors Margaret learned and demonstrated her belief in successful leadership as effective communication, empowerment and conveying passion. Within the industry, Margaret has managed high profile projects across all modes of transportation, including transit, highways and aviation. With Mass Highway she worked as Assistant Construction Manager on the “Big Dig” for contracts associated with the Third Harbor Tunner. To this day, Margaret recognizes this role as one that catapulted her career in so many ways. As District Highway Director, she led a motivated and diverse group of engineers, labor and administrative staff to support efforts in building relationships and being responsive to the 77 towns and cities within District 3, including the Route 146 Mass Turnpike Interchange. As part of a pilot program, District 3 was selected to develop and lead a partnering program for 40 Statewide Construction Projects, of which many towns and cities embraced. Margaret has served on both local and national boards for WTS and was honored and recognized as the local and International Member of the Year as well as local and International Woman of the Year in 2012. Margaret was a recipient of COMTO’s Women who Move the Nation Award in Washington D.C. in 2016.
Etty Padmodipoetro worked at the Big Dig for over 15 years focusing on the East Boston Area. The experiences she gained from working on this project made her realize that infrastructure projects provide opportunities for transformative change in the urban environment. Based on the lessons learned from the Big Dig, she believes that the broad role of architects should involve working on what is currently considered non-traditional fields, such as infrastructure. She continues to reach out to architects and design professionals to join her in this field. Etty founded her office, Urban Idea Lab, which specializes in infrastructure and community development projects. She believes that one of the keys to success in every project is to find balance and establish a strong collaboration between the large-scale infrastructure projects and its surrounding communities, in order to bring social equity through design. Etty is a registered architect with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Minnesota and the Loeb Fellowship from Harvard Graduate School of Design. She continues to be grateful to all her mentors from the Big Dig.
Carrie Rocha has 28 years of experience in the transportation industry including program and project management, construction management, contract administration and engineering. She has been involved with executing major infrastructure programs throughout her career in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia. Carrie worked for Bechtel while on the Big Dig, primarily in roles ranging from office engineer to resident engineer where she worked on projects on I-90 including the Logan Airport Interchange, the East Boston Toll Plaza, the South Boston Interchange, and the surface restoration/parks project at the Fort Point Channel. Carrie is currently Chief Capital Officer for the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority (MARTA) in Atlanta, Georgia, overseeing the Division of Capital Programs, Expansion & Innovation, responsible for delivery of a $7B program of expansion and state of good repair over the next 10 years. A registered professional engineer and certified construction manager, Carrie is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She has been active in three WTS chapters in her career, all starting with her joining WTS-Boston nearly 20 years ago.