Elizabeth Schlegel

Elizabeth is an Associate Civil Engineer at Kjeldsen, Sinnock, and Neudeck, Inc., which she joined in 2006. She has completed general civil engineering projects of all varieties and sizes, from connecting a school to a City’s water main 50 feet away, to extending a highway to a new terminal location, to building a new 73-acre state prison. She loves that her job has evolved over time to allow more creativity: “Every project is at a new location, with new site constraints and new priorities, so every project has a new solution to what the “best” design will be.” She holds a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. When Elizabeth decided to go into engineering, “All I knew was that it had something to do with buildings, and my uncle was a civil engineer and got to live in Spain for his work.” She has since developed a much clearer picture of what civil engineers do, saying “If we do our jobs right, you’ll never notice that we make the systems that keep your everyday life running work. If your toilet doesn’t flush, or you can’t drive to work, or your house floods when it rains, then you’ll notice how well a civil engineer did their job – or not!” She tells the young engineers that she supervises that you never know where your career path might take you; since joining KSN, she has completed many different types of projects, helped to open a new office, and been the first woman at a 60+ year old company to have a baby during her tenure. “You just start by making one decision, then you decide every day to keep going on that path and see where it takes you. If you decide you need a change, then make the change that you need.” She enjoys spending her free time as a freelance professional musician, and spending time with her husband, daughter, and two cats.