In+Motion_Spring 2014

2505 N. State HWY 360, Suite 750 | Grand Prairie, Texas 75050

Editor:

Crystal Oczkowski Dallas/Fort Worth | 972.890.9800

Advisors:

Steve Perliss San Francisco | 415.908.6450

Sanjeev Shah Miami | 305.500.9390

David Little Washington, D.C. | 703.968.7883

About Lea+Elliott Lea+Elliott is a transportation consulting firm offering a broad range of planning, engineering, program management, and construction management services for clients worldwide. These services are provided to public transit authorities, airports and private sector owners for new transit systems and the refurbishment of existing systems. We have expertise in all modes of transit, including high-speed and intercity rail, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, automated guideway transit, personal rapid transit, and conventional and advanced technology buses. The firm is especially well known for its creative structuring of procurements for a wide range of delivery options that include DBOM and P3.

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Please return address correction information to the above address or fax to 972.890.9801.

Meet Laura Espinoza

DALLAS/FORT WORTH - It’s tough enough to pick up and move when you’re only 12 years old. It’s worse when you move to a new country where you don’t even know the language … and where bi-lingual classes weren’t offered. That’s just what happened when Laura Espinoza’s family moved to Houston from Mexico. “The language barrier was the hardest hurdle,” she says. “But by coming to America, we definitely had a much better life. It was just a pretty big culture shock for the first few years.”

The tenacity it took for Laura to acculturate and succeed as a pre-teen newbie in America is the same tenacity that has helped her succeed in her career and her life. She graduated from the University of Houston in 1997 with a degree in industrial engineering and immediately began working for Lea+Elliott, implementing Phase 1 of the TerminaLink APM system at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. She ultimately served as the project engineer for the design and implementation of all three phases of the system. Six years into her career, she proudly passed her tests to become a registered professional engineer. After eight years in the workforce, Laura chose to become a stay-at-home mom to her two girls; but after a three-year hiatus, she knew it was time to move back into the professional world. “I wanted my girls to see that women can do engineering and do it well and be successful,” she explains. “I wanted them to see that technical careers are very interesting.” She completed her masters’ degree in industrial engineering, then again approached Lea+Elliott who enthusiastically welcomed her back. Today, she works in the firm’s Dallas/Fort Worth office, honing her expertise in system integration and the implementation of APM technologies. Laura particularly appreciates the professional yet compassionate environment at Lea+Elliott. “They respect that I am a full time parent and a full time professional and offer me the flexibility I need to be successful in both roles,” she adds. And when she fought cancer, she says the firm stood by her and supported her through those tough times as well. Recently, Laura joined the scholarship committee for the DFW Chapter of WTS International. “It’s very rewarding, she says. “I know what it was like when I was in college trying to get money for school. Reading applicants’ stories reminds me of those times. It feels good to be on the other side, helping students to get scholarships today.”

In Motion

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Vol. 22 No 1