Her Story
About Geetha
Geetha Chandar serves as Associate Vice President and Texas Transportation Leader at Whitman Requardt Associates, where she has worked since 2023. She brings nearly 30 years of experience in civil transportation and structural engineering, with a focus on buildings and bridges design. Chandar earned her bachelor's in civil engineering and master's in structural engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She maintains a Texas PE license and PMP certification. Her leadership includes graduating from Leadership Texas Class of 2014 and serving as Professional Development Committee Chair for the Women's Transportation Seminar in 2019. She received a PCI award for a unique design project and has mentored numerous young engineers and women engineers throughout her career. Chandar values balancing professional and personal life, attributing her success to support from mentors, professors, and family.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Geetha
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it's all, like, our mentor, our professor, and also my family. They all, like, supports, right? Otherwise, it's difficult. You have to have all the supports, even though I'm doing things, but you need to have support around you.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Yeah, I think I would say, like, you know, not too afraid of taking the opportunity if they, like, oh, this is not for... you have to take... when they... when they are young, they need to go for all the things, like planning, designing, and even, like, you know, inspection or construction. Go through all these, and then what is the best for them if they're, like, then they, they decide and go in that expertise. Don't hesitate to... You know, try for all. Initial faster, 2 years, three years, once they finish their bachelor's degree. So, and also, like, Concentrate, and then have a strong technical background. Not to be, you know, just to go through all of them, and then not to be expert in one field. So, that's another thing. You have to have your technical knowledge to be, well-versed as a project manager for any project.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think the work... one thing I want to mention, in the first, project, the one I designed, is a unique one. It was selected as a... This was pre... PCI award... And also, yeah, I think as a woman, we have to balance our personal life, too. It's not only professional, right?
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