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PROFILE
A celebration culture: Donna Newell President of NTM Engineering (Dillsburg, PA), a civil engineering firm that specializes in water resources design, bridge design, and engineering instruction.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
N ewell first started thinking about engineering while in high school. She excelled in math and science, and had opportunities to attend events focused on STEM careers. In her junior year of high school, she was invited to an engineering event at Penn State University Park and that weekend solidified her interest in civil and environmental engineering. Today, she’s one of the founders of NTM, a civil engineering firm that specializes in water resources design, bridge design, and engineering instruction for public and private sector clients. “After working in the field for 10 years, I had built a small group of water resources staff and felt there was a market for the specialty area of water resources, permitting, and structures work related to the transportation arena, so with the support of my partners, John Newell (husband), Jeff MacKay, and Rachel Tereska, we decided to take the leap to start our business,” she says. “That was 15 years ago.” MENTORSHIP MATTERS. Newell shares that there were many people along the way who influenced her decision to become
an engineer and entrepreneur, most notably her graduate advisor and professor of civil engineering, Arthur Miller. She met Miller in her junior year of college and he became an advisor, mentor, friend, colleague, and inspiration. Throughout her career, she could always reach out to him and he would listen and give great advice. But more importantly, he taught Newell to understand that life is what you make it. “Anytime I talk with him, he says, ‘life is good,’” Newell says. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on – he chooses to see the good in every situation. He also told me not to be afraid to surround myself with people smarter than me.” Newell has done this and says it works. More than 20 years ago, she worked for a firm and tried to develop a small specialty water resources group. She interviewed two potential candidates – both had better GPAs than her. “I could have been intimidated,” she says. “I wondered how I would manage them and if I would be a good mentor. Would I be able to help them develop their careers? But I remembered Miller’s advice and I hired them. Together, we’ve challenged
THE ZWEIG LETTER NOVE
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