Michelle Chollet

I attribute much of my success to the foundation that was established for me early in life. My father, Dr. Hillary A.P. Chollet, attended Cornell University and served in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. His example connected education, intellectual curiosity, discipline, and service long before I understood how deeply those same values would eventually shape my own life.

That foundation was strengthened by an early aptitude for math and science and by teachers who encouraged me to pursue engineering. As my career developed, I made a conscious habit of choosing difficult projects and opportunities that required me to learn something new. I have never wanted to simply become comfortable with what I already know. Continuous learning- whether mastering a new technical system, learning programming, or exploring the responsible use of AI- has remained central to how I grow.

My own years supporting the Department of Defense and serving our nations veterans have those early lessons about service a deeper meaning. From Navy ships to veterans’ healthcare, national cemetery infrastructure, and military medicine, I learned that engineering is ultimately not about the equipment or buildings. It is about the people who depend upon the decisions we make and what remains after our work is finished.

My journey has taught me that success does not require a perfectly linear path. I stepped away from engineering to raise my family and later returned to the profession, rebuilding momentum while continuing to learn and grow. That experience changed how I define success and resilience.

Today, I see my career apart of something larger than my own accomplishments. I inherited a respect for education and service, built my own path upon that foundation, and now have a responsibility to carry those values forward. I measure success not only by what I achieve, but by what I leave behind- stronger systems, knowledge shared, opportunities created, and a path made wider for the generations who come after me.

The best career advice I ever received actually began as financial advice. The associate dean of mechanical engineering, while attending MTU, told me, “Don’t invest in anything you don’t know.”

Those were his exact words and they stayed with me throughout my life. At the time the advice was about investing: understanding where you are putting your money, do the research, and never make a decision just because everyone else is making it.

Over time, I realized the advice applied equally well to my career. Before I commit to an important decision, I want to understand what I am working with. If I do not know something, I research it, ask questions, and learn. That does not mean waiting until I know everything; it means knowing enough to understand both the opportunity and the risk.

Engineering has reinforced another part of that philosophy: not every difficult problem should be answered immediately. I have learned to sit with the question, understand what is really being asked, and allow different possibilities to develop before committing to a solution. Sometimes the breakthrough comes when I combine what I already know with the willingness to ask, “what else could be possible?”

This mindset has become even more important as I explore AI and emerging technologies. Having access to more information- or getting an answer faster- is not the same as understanding. Technology can expand what is possible, but judgement still requires us to understand what we are relying upon and why.

So the advice I received about investing became something much larger for me: understanding where what you are investing in- whether the investment is your money, your time, your career, or your trust.

My advice to women entering engineering is to never confuse fitting in with belonging.

Engineering has historically been a male-dominated profession, and there can be a subtle pressure for women to change how they dress, communicate, lead, or even how much of their femininity they allow themselves to show in order to be taken seriously. I want young women to know that they do not have to become a more masculine version of themselves to be excellent engineers.

You can embrace your femininity and still walk confidently into technical rooms. You can be kind without being weak, collaborative without surrendering your authority, and confident without becoming someone you are not. Your technical credibility comes from your knowledge, preparation, judgment, and the quality of your work—not from how closely you resemble the people who traditionally occupied the role before you.

I would also tell women to take the difficult assignments. Ask questions even when you are the only person in the room asking them. Learn the systems others avoid. Find people who challenge you to grow, and when you eventually have influence, use it to make room for someone coming behind you.

Above all, lead with integrity and kindness. Careers are built project by project, but reputations are built decision by decision. Technical knowledge will continue to evolve throughout your career; who you choose to be while applying that knowledge is entirely your own.

You do not need to change who you are to belong in engineering. Become exceptionally good at what you do, remain authentically yourself, and leave the profession more open than you found it.

One of the biggest challenges—and opportunities—in engineering right now is learning how to ask better questions.

Engineers have access to more data, more sophisticated technology, and now artificial intelligence capable of processing information at extraordinary speed. But having more information does not automatically lead to better engineering decisions. We still have to know what question we are trying to answer, recognize what may be missing, challenge assumptions, and communicate technical information clearly enough that people outside our discipline can make informed decisions.

I see tremendous opportunity for AI to strengthen that process. Used responsibly, AI can help engineers analyze complex information, identify relationships we may not immediately see, preserve institutional knowledge, and formulate better questions. But I do not believe AI should replace professional judgment. The engineer must remain responsible for understanding the problem, evaluating the answer, and recognizing when something simply does not make sense.

Healthcare engineering adds another dimension. A mechanical system cannot be evaluated only by whether it meets a technical specification. Airflow, pressure relationships, temperature, humidity, water systems, construction activities, and equipment reliability can directly affect infection control, patient safety, clinical operations, and ultimately patient outcomes. I believe we have an opportunity to integrate that thinking more deeply into both engineering education and professional practice.

The future of engineering is not simply about having better technology. It is about developing engineers who know how to use better technology while still asking better questions, exercising sound judgment, communicating across disciplines, and understanding the human consequences of the decisions they make.

The values that matter most to me, both professionally and personally, are positivity, integrity, kindness, authenticity, and service to others.

My life motto is simply, “Be positive.” To me, positivity does not mean ignoring difficulty or pretending that every situation is easy. It means choosing to look for what can be learned, what can be improved, and what the next constructive step should be. Some circumstances cannot be controlled, but I can control the perspective and character I bring to them.

Integrity is especially important to me as an engineer. Our decisions can affect facilities, resources, patients, service members, veterans, and the people who will inherit the systems we leave behind. Doing what is right—even when it is more difficult, takes longer, or requires asking an uncomfortable question—is fundamental to the responsibility of the profession.

I also believe kindness and strength are not opposites. You can hold high standards, make difficult decisions, advocate for what you believe is right, and still treat people with dignity. The same is true of authenticity. I want the person I am professionally to be consistent with the person I am personally rather than feeling that I need to become someone different when I walk into a technical or leadership environment.

Finally, service gives all of those values purpose. Much of my engineering career has supported sailors, veterans, patients, military families, and the people who care for them. That experience has continually reminded me that our work is rarely just about ourselves.

Ultimately, I want the way I live and work to reflect the same principle: be positive, act with integrity, lead with kindness, remain authentically yourself, and use what you know in service to something larger than yourself.