Civiltec is proud to announce that staff engineer Gretel Ochoa has recently earned her Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering (MSCE) from Cal Poly Pomona, adding further subject expertise to the group of engineers at Civiltec.
In 2012, Gretel took and passed the Engineering in Training (EIT) exam after graduating from Cal Poly Pomona with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BSCE). She returned to Cal Poly Pomona for her Master’s program in the Fall of 2013, determined to specialize in transportation design after excelling in transportation and hydraulics during her undergrad. In the course of her MSCE program, Gretel became especially focused on geometric highway design, transportation planning, traffic analysis, traffic signal control and design and municipal hydraulics.
Gretel joined Civiltec’s Monrovia office in April 2014 as a CAD technician and quickly worked her way up to a Staff Engineer position, all while attending school full-time and maintaining a high grade point average. Civiltec management was thrilled with Gretel’s ambitions and offered her a flexible work schedule so that she could focus appropriately on furthering her education. Gretel admits it was difficult to make sacrifices, especially with her social life, and that there were times when she wanted to stop and take a break. But, she decided to continue her efforts in order to meet her personal goals:
“I will always be grateful to Civiltec for allowing me to achieve my goal of obtaining my MSCE and I can’t wait to grow more within the company. I was able to enter Civiltec as a CAD technician and now I am a Staff Engineer. Obtaining my MSCE within my initial time frame of two years and becoming a Staff Engineer at Civiltec have both been great personal accomplishments, and I am excited for the future.”
“Gretel is a rising star at Civiltec and has already made a positive impact on the way we conduct our business in the water, wastewater and municipal professional services industry,” said Civiltec President W. David Byrum, P.E. “She has a built-in drive to succeed, a positive work attitude, and the desire to lead by example.”
Gretel’s next big milestone in her career ladder is taking and passing the Professional Engineer’s Exam in October 2015. Please join us in wishing her good luck in her studies.