National Engineers Week

Anne Michelini has held ever-expanding roles in Capital Project Leadership and Strategic Planning for 40 years and has been a dedicated volunteer focused on STEM education. A licensed professional engineer, Anne earned an engineering degree at Bucknell and an MBA from Widener while also pushing further to obtain Six Sigma green and black belts with certification as a Champion.A Chemical engineer that eventually became the Global Engineering Manager for DuPont’s Performance Materials, a $6 billion business, in Wilmington, DE; Anne after over a decade at DuPont decided to set her engineering career aside to devote time to her growing family. While raising four children, Anne continued to develop her skills and make new connections through volunteer work by getting involved in community projects. Anne helped form a parks and recreation committee and ran successfully for political office. As a local school board member, six years as director of Unionville–Chadds-Ford School Board, then serving as vice president and chair of the Building Committee;Anne was involved in procuring land for construction, obtaining local and state project approvals, and building a new school and expanding four others. Anne also developed curriculum for a “before school” elementary school science program. After eight years out of the paid engineering workforce, Anne restarted her career as a full-time professional along with being a parent. To help re-establish credibility, Anne reassessed the types of skills and experiences acquired during a career break raising four young children: project management, time management, dealing with difficult people, public speaking, etc. Then against the odds for highly skilled women who had left the workplace for some period, Anne did succeed at returning to a full-time career in engineering. At DuPont Anne became a project team leader managing all phases of capital projects, then a global technology manager and a strategic workforce planning leader along with obtaining Six Sigma Certification. As an engineering and facilities strategic planning manager Anne functioned as a Six Sigma Champion while planning the rollout of corporate strategies companywide and the redefinition of engineering delivery globally. Just over 10 years after returning, Anne’s capital project planning and execution experience led to her appointment as the global business engineering manager for DuPont Performance Materials. Anne has a history of successful large capital project execution and portfolio management to maximize return on investment. Since 2017 at Covanta, Anne became the Senior VP of Engineering and Projects and then the VP of International Projects, planning new facilities and executing multiple ~half billion-dollar projects. In total, Anne has served in a variety of roles on capital projects from start to finish including process development, estimating, cost control, strategic planning and execution, as well as overall project team leader. Over this time Anne’s technical society involvement included serving on the implementation committee at the Construction Industry Institute, a consortium of owners, contractors, and educators.

Anne has been passionate about getting young people exposed to engineering; even though she had limited exposure to engineering as a young student. Anne remembers a neighbor, who was an engineer, remarking to her that girls would be challenged to become engineers. So as a past board member for First State Robotics, and frequent volunteer at Robotics competitions, Anne has seen the benefits of extending learning beyond the classroom to get young people fascinated with engineering and technology. Participating in “Engineer Your Tomorrow” events that provide fun-filled hands-on activities involving STEM careers; Anne has helped students engage in piquing their curiosity and capturing their love for learning. In particular, Anne has provided outreach with high school girls to chat about finding out how exciting and interesting engineering can be for girls and how making good academic choices can prepare them for higher education and careers in STEM fields. Anne’s passion for education also extends to volunteer mentoring at Women Unlimited to provide a safe relationship for up-and-coming women to share career goals, benchmark best practices and drive their career progression. Anne and her husband Gene have four children, all of whom studied engineering as undergraduates, and two grandchildren. Enjoying time at the beach is one of her family’s greatest pleasures, Anne also loves to cook and is an avid reader.

For more than 4 decades, Anne has tirelessly embraced her career choice of chemical engineering.  She has a passion for the engineering industry to be a career of choice for talented young people and feels strongly that diversity strengthens the work force and increases retention. She intends to continue learning, leading projects, developing and mentoring new engineers, and sharing her know-how and enthusiasm. For these reasons, Anne’s nomination is being advanced as a candidate for Engineer of the Year of the Delaware Valley.