Maria Angelica Deeb, PE, PTOE, RSP, PTP, ENV SP

I attribute my success to perseverance, continuous learning, and never compromising my values. One of the most important lessons I learned very early on is to make sure you never compromise your values and always trust yourself. If something doesn't feel right, you either discuss it or recuse yourself from doing something that is against your values. I also believe in always being willing to learn, to improve, and to innovate, because engineers that do things without looking forward are left behind - either the industry moves on or the tools available move on. So I keep learning and keep innovating, but I always make sure my ethical values are strong and I always act on them. My father, who is also an engineer from Colombia, has been one of my key mentors and helped me navigate things here in the States, especially during difficult days. I also had a woman I worked with when I just started at the Department of Transportation who was my emotional rock and gave me the support to become a PE in the States. She was an admin in my office and helped me navigate the different processes and was always there supporting me, which taught me how important it is to work with others so they never give up.

The best career advice I received came from my mentors who taught me the importance of perseverance and never giving up. There was one woman I worked with when I just started working fresh out of school at the Department of Transportation who was my emotional rock. She gave me the support to become a PE in the States, she helped me navigate the different processes and was always there supporting me. That experience taught me how important it is to work with others so they never give up. My father, who is also an engineer from Colombia, has been my other key mentor. He has helped me navigate things here in the States, and sometimes it's difficult when the days become long, especially when people hear an accent from you and sometimes they're not very nice. But my father taught me that there are always shapes and colors, and sometimes people just say the wrong thing because of ignorance. His guidance helped me push through those challenges and stay focused on my goals.

My advice to young women entering engineering is to make sure you never compromise your values and always trust yourself. If something doesn't feel right, you either discuss it or don't be afraid of saying no, I won't do that, but just recuse yourself from doing something that is against your values. Always be willing to learn, to improve, and to innovate, because I think that engineers that do things without looking forward are left behind. Either the industry moves on or the tools available move on. So keep learning, keep innovating, but always make sure your ethical values are strong and you always act on them. Trust yourself and never let anyone make you compromise who you are or what you believe in.

I believe one of the biggest challenges in engineering and transportation today is ensuring that infrastructure growth keeps pace with evolving demands while maintaining sustainability, resilience, and ethical leadership. At the same time, I see tremendous opportunities in advancing innovative transportation solutions, strengthening diversity and equity initiatives within engineering, and mentoring the next generation of professionals who will help shape safer, more connected, and future-ready communities.

The values most important to me in my work and personal life are integrity, never compromising my ethical values, continuous learning, innovation, and always looking forward rather than behind. I strongly believe in making sure engineering is always looking forward and never behind, in terms of sustainability, diversity, equity, and as a profession. I also deeply value family - I'm very lucky that my parents are still alive and live less than a mile away, so I talk to them every day. My husband and I love to spend time together, even if it's just half an hour on the sofa talking about our days, because we recognize that we're a couple and we need to work on that every day. I also value taking time for myself through practicing Aikido, which I've done for 30 years, and now I teach juniors every Saturday and lead adults when senseis are not available. That practice helps me make sure I'm always doing my best for myself and for others. I believe in creating a legacy by ensuring that whoever takes my place in leadership roles has the skills and knowledge to continue on and even improve from what I did - that's how people remember us even when we move on.