Her Story
About Tania
Tania Cortez is a facade engineer specializing in glass and the engineering of building envelopes, including roofs, walls, and glazing. She has worked in this capacity for six years, recently advancing to a senior role involving higher-level engineering, advanced calculations, complex projects such as campuses, and project management responsibilities at a British firm with global operations. Cortez earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Politecnico di Milano in Italy through a double-degree program with Tec de Monterrey in Mexico, where she received a Bachelor of Architectural Building Sciences, followed by a Master of Science in Building Technology in the Netherlands. She is LEED certified and belongs to the Society of Facade Engineers of North America (SFE North America Chapter). Cortez is passionate about the technical and multidisciplinary aspects of facade engineering, which bridge her architectural background with construction and engineering. She mentors junior team members and graduate engineers, drawing from her own experiences overcoming language barriers and cultural transitions during her education in Italy. Originally from Mexico, she speaks English, Spanish, and Italian.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tania
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just because you hear that it's a difficult field, or just because you see that it's a field where you might not automatically feel like you fit in, that should not scare you, because you have so much to offer that's not there. Don't be afraid, and don't be intimidated from that, and trust your skills and your intuition, because most of the times, you might be right. Failure is part of the process, so it's okay to fail and to make mistakes, but the important thing is to learn from them and not make them twice, and grow from them, to move ahead.
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