Sixteen promising early-career professionals recently completed the National Society of Professional Engineer’s Emerging Leaders Program. This diverse group of young professionals was selected from around the country to take part in an intensive, unique enterprise designed to equip them as leaders in the engineering field.

“Enrolling in the NSPE Emerging Leaders Program has helped to show my commitment to improvement and has given me tools to become a successful leader,” said Sara Doi, P.E. of Waipahu, Hawaii. “The unique way this program is built to cater toward the engineering profession has made it more valuable than other leadership training seminars in which I have participated.”

The participants worked in four committees to provide solutions in line with NSPE’s strategic goals: Driving Growth, Shaping Public Policy, Educating for the Future, and Promoting Diversity and Tomorrow's Engineers. Each committee presented their findings to the NSPE Board of Directors.

“The recommendations put forth by this class of Emerging Leaders demonstrated their strategic problem-solving abilities and identified exciting opportunities for our society and the engineering profession,” said NSPE President Rick Guerra, P.E., F.NSPE. “These participants represent the best in engineering, and we are excited to implement many of their ideas as we foster licensed professional engineers in service to society.”

Each member of the program completed a reality-based curriculum focused on the core skills necessary to think strategically, build effective teams, deliver great service for their most valued clients, and lead successfully. With leadership training provided by Cross Group, the emerging leaders mastered topics including ownership, team development, communication skills, giving and receiving feedback, and presentation skills. They also enjoyed networking opportunities with peers and national NSPE leaders.

The intensive, virtual seven-month program began in August 2021 and concluded during Engineers Week in February of 2022. Although participants completed the program, their final assignment included the development of a 100-Day plan to think about development and improvement of their leadership skills in the workplace, through their interactions with NSPE and the maintenance of work-life balance. Emerging leaders described specific actions for commitment and aligned them with specific and measurable goals and presented their final plan in the knowledge that leadership development is a continuous journey. All who completed the program will now become part of an alumni group of fellow engineers who completed the program.

The 2021 NSPE Emerging Leaders include the following (in alphabetical order):

Ahmed Ausaf, E.I.T. (Hanover Park, Illinois.)

Clint Brown, P.E. (Perryville, Missouri)

Alex Cambiano, P.E. (Liberty, Missouri)

Matthew Danza, P.E.. (Freehold, New Jersey)

Sara Doi, P.E. (Waipahu, Hawaii)

Matt Doughty, P.E. (St. Paul, Minnesota)

Austin Duehr, P.E. (Dallas, Texas)

Michael Eagle, P.E. (Orlando, Florida)

Vashee Kush, P.E. (Alexandria, Virginia)

Yahya Mohammed, Ph.D., P.E. (Quincy, Illinois)

Thomas Porter, P.E. (Athens, Ohio)

Blair Richardson, P.E. (Oxford, Connecticut)

Jennifer Sloan Ziegler, Ph.D., P.E. (Ridgeland, Mississippi)

Veronica Springer, E.I.T. (Richardson, Texas)

Kristen Van Hoosier, P.E. (Austin, Texas)

Matthew White, E.I.T. (Cedar Park, Texas)