Guest Bio:
Sandra Stepney is a 1983 graduate of North Carolina State University with a degree in Civil Engineering. Sandra began her engineering career with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in January 1984 and progressed her career in the Roadway Design Unit through 2007. In 2010, Sandra began working with the NCDOT Rail Division in various engineering and management positions, until retiring in 2018. After retirement from NCDOT, Sandra began working in the private engineering sector with Simpson Engineers & Associates. Sandra is a Professional Engineer licensed in North Carolina and a Certified Public Manager. Sandra currently serves on the Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) Industry Advisory Board at North Carolina State University.

Show notes:
Sandra talks about being a woman civil engineer in a male-dominated field. She is likely the first African American woman to get a professional engineers (PE) license in the state of North Carolina. She’s worked as a civil engineer for the state Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and now works as a consulting engineer for a private engineering company in the Raleigh, NC area.

Sandra is a wife of a pastor and the mother of two grown children. She talks about her family, her love of math, and support from her math-teacher mom and her high school guidance counselor. We know that family support is so key to helping kids see themselves as STEM professionals. Growing up, she didn’t know anything about the connections between math and engineering. Her guidance counselor did, though, and encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone to attend a pre-engineering program at NC State in the late 1970s. Another key to her finding her path was interning as a high student at an engineering company. It helped her gain experience and she also earned money during the summers. It was a win-win.

“You can learn anything that is put before you,” Sandra shared. “You might not like the subject but you have to give it [your] attention.” She stresses the importance of pushing through difficulties and being well-rounded. Engineering should not be a scary word, she explained. “An engineer is a person who likes to create.” She didn’t let the hard subjects stop her from reaching her dreams. She credits her faith in God for a lot of her career development as a female engineer.

Do you have something you’d like to add? Leave a comment. Or leave us a voice message.

Check Out These STEM Dreams Resources:

• STEM Dream Activity Book for Kids
• STEM@home list

Help spread the word:
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know in the comments below. Do you have questions? Use the contact form to reach out to us.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast; we release an episode each month.

Show Sponsor:

STEM Dreams podcast is sponsored by Wildlands Engineering, a water resources engineering firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wildlands is dedicated to increasing diversity in engineering and environmental sciences like geology and ecology.

Wildlands, thank you for helping us help the next generation of STEM dreamers.

Credits: Show sound effects and music was sourced from FreeSound.org.

Why STEM Dreams? Some kids dream of becoming sports superstars. Some (believe it or not) dream of becoming scientists, technologists, engineers, or mathematicians. Read about the people behind STEM Dreams.

Today’s guest: Daren Williams, P.E., civil engineer, father, and husband

His STEM bio: In 2002, Daren Williams completed his undergraduate studies at the United States Naval Academy where he earned a Bachelors of Science Degree in Ocean Engineering. He was commissioned as an Officer in the United States Navy at the USNA graduation. While on active duty, he earned his Surface Warfare Officer pin, deployed on the USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) to the Persian Gulf, and graduated Naval Nuclear Power School. His last tour was on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) where he served as the Refueling Complex Overhaul Division Officer. He earned a Master of Engineering Management from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia while serving on the USS Carl Vinson. Upon returning to civilian life, he worked as an Engineer III for the City of Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities. He currently works as a Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Movable Bridges Engineering Manager. He’s a native of Los Angeles, California and graduated from Susan Miller Dorsey High School in June 1997.

Read Daren’s full bio here (PDF).

Show Notes: In this episode, Linda talks with Daren about the choices he had to make during engineering school and after he graduated. He discusses his initial roles in leadership and engineering project management while in the Navy, as well as engineering positions he’s had since leaving service.

Towards the end of the chat, Daren stresses the importance of having a strong math foundation, a strong Christian faith, and connections in engineering organizations.

Math literacy and self-efficacy are pivotal in a person’s ability to persist in STEM and have success. Self-efficacy is a fancy term that means “I believe I can do this task” or “With consistent practice, I believe I can get better and stronger even though I’m not that strong now”. In laymen terms, this is called building your math muscle.

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know in the comments below. Do you have questions? Use the contact form to reach out to us.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast; we release an episode each month.

Acronyms from this episode:

PE or P.E. stands for professional engineer. It’s a designation used by engineers who have passed the FE exam (see above) AND have practiced engineering for a number of years (normally under another PE) AND passed a rigorous all-day exam specific to their discipline of practice. The PE exam is formally called the Principles and Practices of Engineering Exam. Licensed PE are required to become registered in the state or states in which they practice.

FE or F.E. exam stands for the fundamentals of engineering exam. This is an all-day exam that covers a wide range of topics including mathematics, chemistry, physics, engineering economics, and a wide range of general engineering topics. Once a person has passed this exam, they are considered an engineering intern (EI) or engineer in training (EIT).

ASCE stands the American Society of Civil Engineers. It is a professional engineering organization for civil and environmental engineers (with or without their PE license).

ASSP stands for the American Society for Safety Professionals.

Here’s a link of engineering organizations and societies in the United States.

Here’s a list of engineering colleges and schools in the US.

Show Sponsor

STEM Dreams podcast is sponsored by Wildlands Engineering, a water resources engineering firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wildlands is dedicated to increasing diversity in engineering and environmental sciences like geology and ecology.

Wildlands, thank you for helping us help the next generation of STEM dreamers.

Credits: Show sound effects and music was sourced from FreeSound.org.