Celebrating National Engineer's Week with Rachel Feeck
Rachel has been a transportation engineer at Burgess & Niple, Inc. for four years, graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in 2019, and is a member of our WTS Phoenix-Metro Chapter. Rachel was a mentee in our 2022 Jane Morris Mentorship Program cohort. As a female in our industry, she serves as a great inspiration for future engineers. On a typical day in the office, you can find her working in CAD and drinking hot chocolate. When Rachel is not wearing her engineer hat, she is probably exploring a thrift store or reading a book.
As we celebrate National Engineers Week this year, our Chapter is thankful for members like Rachel, and we hope to continue supporting her as she advances in transportation.
In honor of National Engineers Week, we asked Rachel a couple questions involving her career path:
What encouraged you to become a roadway/transportation engineer?
I was drawn to engineering in general because of the everyday applications. Everyone needs bridges and roads. And after interning with a rail design company, I thought, “Alright, this is something I can do.” Although, my family likes to point further back, to my early love of Thomas trains and the book Go, Dog. Go!
Who and/or what is your biggest motivation?
My mom. She’s one of those people who knows everybody and has plans with everyone yet keeps room on the calendar just in case someone needs her. She reminds me that learning doesn’t stop with school and that the best thing to do isn’t always what’s convenient.
What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
I enjoyed working with MAG on the latest Regional Transportation Plan. This project made me appreciate the amount of planning that goes into our local infrastructure, well before it’s built. It’s neat to see what all is on the horizon for the freeway program and to be a part of brainstorming a wish list of high-level solutions to regional issues (we’d all be happier with less traffic on SR 101L ?).
What advice do you have for engineers just graduating / starting out in the industry?
Say yes to opportunities. A lot of what I’ve learned while working in roadway design has built my knowledge of other fields, thanks to experiences I either sought out or was given. Maybe it’s piloting a drone, or talking with freight operators, or helping another team in the office – sometimes the unexpected can become the best part of project.
If you weren’t an engineer, what would you be?
An author. Books have always been a large part of my life, and most of my free time involves reading, visiting bookshops and libraries, and writing fiction. I’m a very slow writer, so it would have been a stressful occupation.