Migara Hewavitharana

About Migara Hewavitharana

I\'m a structural engineer who\'s passionate about STEM Education, professional development, and the powerful tools for change they can be with targeted outreach to underserved communities. I graduated with my B.S. in Civil/Structural Engineering from Penn State University in May of 2013 and recently crossed off another career milestone by graduating from Columbia University with an M.S. in Structural Engineering. I love connecting with people who are passionate about impacting their communities and the world in a positive way. At our core, that\'s what we do in the AEC industry - designing and building the world of tomorrow so that society can continue to thrive and grow. People focused infrastructure and urban planning design can bring transformational change to communities. It\'s why I gravitated to this profession and why I enjoy engaging with the industry in professional org leadership positions - going back all the way to my days as ASCE student chapter president at PSU. In the 10 years since graduating at Penn State, I\'ve continued to volunteer with various professional organizations to hone my leadership skills while providing professional development programming targeting current students and young professionals. I\'ve been the recipient of fantastic mentorship at every stage of my education and career, everything I do as far as industry leadership goes is just paying forward a small fraction of the help and guidance I\'ve received through the years. Also since graduating undergrad, I\'ve worked for a multitude of different firms, of all types and sizes - from a small mom and pop <5 employees structural practice to a large global-leading multi-discipline firm, and everything in between. As a highly adaptable professional - I\'ve taken lessons learned and best practices from every leadership position and employment opportunity, every word of wisdom from a long list of diverse mentors, and every piece of technical knowledge from a wide variety of project types. I have rolled these lessons into a unique skillset package which I leverage to help my employer VHB in achieving our strategic vision and goals. If you\'re passionate about the built-world and discussing how to progress the AEC industry to be more inclusive and diverse, how we can leverage technology to work smarter, not harder, in providing unique and creative solutions to difficult problems, or want to talk general nerd culture or about how much better NYC is than everywhere else - drop a follow/connection request!Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of NY

Experience

1. Senior Vertical Structures Engineer

   VHB

   Nov 2023 — Present · New York, NY, US

Education

• Columbia University

  Master of Science - MS, Civil Engineering (Structural Focus)

• Penn State University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Civil Engineering (structural focus)