In honor of Women in Engineering Day, we’re spotlighting two of our talented team members, Melissa Angulo and Jeanie Ashe.
Melissa’s interest in engineering started early. With a natural love for math and a mother working as an engineer, she was introduced to the field at a young age. Naturally drawn toward engineering and science, her path into the industry began with an interest in architectural building design. Melissa earned her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), then pursued a professional master’s degree in architectural engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), specializing in energy-efficiency design and energy modeling. While attending IIT, Melissa began her career as an intern at an engineering firm, where she performed plumbing design work for commercial high-rise buildings. That experience helped shape her perspective and confirmed that engineering offered the technical challenges she enjoyed while still allowing room for creativity in design. Today, Melissa serves as a Project Manager at DEVITA and has been with the firm for nearly 13 years. Her role involves coordinating project scope, deliverables, and deadlines between clients and DEVITA’s design teams. A recent project that stands out to Melissa is a new Meat and Three restaurant in Boiling Springs, South Carolina, featuring nearly 5,000 square feet of kitchen space. The complexity of coordinating kitchen equipment, utilities, and local jurisdictional requirements made it one of her most challenging and rewarding projects. Her advice to young women considering engineering is simple: “Put yourself out there. If something interests you, go for it. Find people doing the work you are interested in and find a mentor to learn how to get where you want to go.”
For Jeanie, engineering began through creativity. As someone who has always enjoyed art, she became fascinated by the idea of learning to draw structures and finding ways to bring art to life. That interest led her to pursue a Computer Aided Drafting and Design degree at Pittsburgh Technical College, where she was eager to learn AutoCAD, begin drawing, and enter the workforce. After graduation, Jeanie began working in the design field, drawing steel and foundations for an engineering firm in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She spent 10 years building her experience and developing her skills in structural design. After establishing her career, Jeanie shifted her focus to starting a family and spent the next chapter of her life as a full-time mom. Looking back, Jeanie reflects that she has experienced the best of two worlds, building a career bringing architectural visions to life while also being blessed to stay at home with her three beautiful children during their younger years. Today, Jeanie serves as a Precast Structural Designer at DEVITA and works with the design team to develop drawings for production and construction while coordinating through each project phase. One of the projects she is most proud of is the South Carolina Children’s Theatre in downtown Greenville. Her advice to young women considering engineering: “Have a vision for yourself and work hard to make it happen; no one is going to hand you your dreams!”
At DEVITA, we are proud to celebrate professionals like Melissa and Jeanie, whose experiences, leadership, and dedication continue to inspire and help shape the future of engineering.