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""ODU Alumnus soars with Engineering career" Written by John Baldwin Spring 2008 Mace and Crown Newspaper: Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
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“Education is not so much what you learn but it shows you have the capability to learn,” said ODU alumnus Andrea Lother. PROFILE Andrea Lother, B.S.E., P.M.P. (Bachelor of Science in Engineering) (Project Management Professional) Andrea Lother knew early in life that her supermodel good looks would only get her so far in life. She decided in her twenties to leave modeling and bartending for a career with longevity, a challenge, and a six figure salary: construction engineering. Lother, 45, is a single mother and has been managing construction engineering for over 20 years in a mostly male-dominated business. As a Construction Manager for Commerce Bank, Lother directs and manages the construction of approximately 30 banks in southern Florida. Lother travels several times a week to the different construction sites. Initially she meets with the civil engineers, utility engineers, site engineers, land-use attorneys, and land-use planners to do a feasability study for a new site. After headquarters in New Jersey approves it, an environmental study is made. After a couple years of negotiating land-use issues, construction will begin. She meets with the engineers and architects twice a week, putting many miles on her Mazda SUV, a company car. Sirius satellite radio is her companion as she travels the Florida coast. She oversees the general contractor bidding and makes a recommendation for Commerce Bank. During construction Lother will meet weekly with the general contractor and bank vendors. She approves work orders and contracts. She troubleshoots all issues. "I'm more or less the director of the orchestra that points everybody in the right direction and keeps everybody moving along," she said. "The architectural plans are never right. The city has always got problems. I hook up the engineer with the architect, the architect with the county, or the city and the GC. He's got issues with the architect or the city has issues with our design. It all goes through me." When a bank is opened Lother says it is a grand affair. "They basically bring in the circus. They bring in tents and food and performers." The whole process takes severals years and all the properties Lother manages are in different states of development. Most are in the Tri-County area of Miami, Broward and Palm Beach. Lother works from home mostly, which she says is a benefit and a distraction. “The problem is I can’t get away from it. It’s hard to stop working when I know there’s something that needs to be done and the office is staring me in the face. I go thru 200 to 300 emails a day. I get called at night and on weekends.” On the positive side she said “I make my own schedule. I don’t answer to anybody.” Referring to her daughter Kacey, 14, Lother said “I can pick Kacey up from school and take her to the orthodontist.” So what made Lother want to pursue a career in engineering? “The thing about engineering is it always made sense, two plus two is always four. Math was something that made sense to me in a world where nothing else made any sense at all.” Lother started taking classes at ODU in 1980. “When I started at ODU there were only a few women in the engineering department. By the time I graduated nine years later it was more commonplace.” According to Dr. Oktay Baysal, Dean of Engineering, ODU's current female enrollment rate in the engineering department is 15%. With over 50% of college students being women, Baysal said "that's a whole population we haven't tapped into yet." In 1987 Lother moved to Pompano Beach, Fla. With only a few non-core classes left, ODU allowed her to resume her studies at Florida Atlantic University. In 1987 she also began her first engineering job. She was a Project Coordinator for Kennedy Air Conditioning in Pompano Beach, Fla. After her first job she said “I saw that I liked running all the different entities and all the different projects.” Kennedy A.C. was a sub-contractor and Lother wanted to work for general contractors with more projects and more responsibility. She got her own general contractor's license. Lother said “it wasn’t common for women to be in that field so I got my G.C. license. I did that more for credibility as a female. I’ve had to do more to prove myself and get the certifications and the licenses. Once having that and then doing the job I probably get more respect because I'm a female." In the 1980’s ODU didn’t have a big study abroad program so Lother did her own program. She went to England in 1988 for 5 or 6 classes, which would not count towards her degree, solely for the experience and enjoyment. To this day the family she boarded with, the Williams, has become a part of her own family. “I travel with them about every other year. Sometimes I just go and visit them in England. Everywhere we’ve been to is with the Williams: Greece, Spain, Austria, Germany, Italy, Holland, France." Mr. and Mrs. Williams have four sons. "When I was there as a lodger the boys were from the ages of one to eight. Now they’re all grown up and out of college.” Lother most recently visited the family over Xmas vacation at Disney World in Orlando where Lother’s job constantly took her away from the park and her guests to deal with work issues via her cell phone. Time would run out for Lother in 1989, shortly after her semester abroad. At that time she was bartending, finishing up her degree and working for Kennedy. Lother said, "ODU told me if I didn’t finish all my classes and graduate they would make me start all over again. You only have a 10 year window from start to finish because so much changes in the requirements. At the end I was afraid I wouldn’t make it. I was convinced I was failing. My last class was electrical engineering. It was the last semester I had before they were going to cut me off. I got an A in the class. I still have nightmares about it." With her Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree behind her Lother would enjoy a succesful career in engineering. As a project manager for Compulink she would get certifications in fiber optic system design, Microtest advanced cabling, and Systemax design and engineering. As Director of Construction and Facilities for Charter Schools of Florida, Lother would travel both Florida coasts, designing and building schools. She directed and managed the building of multi-million dollar schools. She supervised scores of properties, facilities, contractors, and construction personnel. Charter schools are publicly funded schools that are allowed to run by their own rules. They must meet a higher standard than other schools and they can lose their funding if the education output is deemed to be below average. Florida has the toughest building codes in the country, says Lother. Why is Florida so strict? “Hurricanes,” she said. "Our entire building code is based around hurricanes. That’s why being a builder in Florida requires so many licenses and certifications." 2005 was the most active hurricane season in recorded history, with Florida getting hit on all sides. Luckily, none of the Charter schools suffered major damage. "We were without power for weeks," said Lother. "We had no stop lights. Our cell phones didn’t work. Water and sewage backed up into the streets. Playground equipment got damaged, awnings and fences got damaged. We had no major structural damage because of the building codes. Charter schools is a new concept. All the schools have been built within the past 10 years.” As much as she loved building schools, Lother moved on to building banks for her current employer, Commerce Bank, in 2006. Lother says that more learning happens after college than in college. What don’t you learn at college that you need to know in the engineering field? “People skills. Engineers tend to hide behind the numbers. They don’t teach people skills in school.” ODU has started a Doctorate in Engineering program to help engineers learn management skills like Lother has. Lother feels that ODU is a smart choice to study engineeering. “They’ve got a good reputation with the rest of the world” According to Lother “Education is not so much what you learn but it shows you have the capability to learn or to do that job. You continue learning all the time. I got my PMP (Project Management Professional) from the Project Management Institute which is an internationally recognized certification and very difficult to get. When I did wiring I took all kinds of fiber optic classes and got those certifications. You’re constantly getting more classes and more certifications." What’s on the horizon for Lother? “I’ve considered getting a law degree” she said. She thrives on learning new things and acquiring new skills. With her brains and ambition, the sky’s the limit.
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