From a curious student at a career fair to a future engineer already launching a successful career, Gebremichael demonstrates that the strongest foundations are often built by those willing to explore unfamiliar ground.
Through three years of hands-on experience with Terracon, senior Mahelet "Maddie" Solomon Gebremichael helped determine whether construction sites can safely support future buildings while simultaneously building a strong foundation for her own career.
While a Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) student, Gebremichael imagined a career in structural engineering while exploring other specialties via such extracurriculars as the physics club and robotics competitions. A Terracon recruiter at a career fair introduced her to geotechnical engineering.
Gebremichael’s openness and interest in hands-on experience caught the recruiter’s attention. “I wanted hands on, physical experience seeing what the construction process actually looked like in the field,” said Gebremichael. “I mentioned I wasn't sure yet if that's something they offered, but that I wanted to understand the field side before working from the office. That curiosity about fieldwork was actually what caught her attention, since Terracon values people who understand what's happening on-site before they start working with the data in the office.”
Despite a competitive pool of candidates from well established engineering programs, Gebremichael landed an internship with the company while still a freshman at NOVA. "I think it's a nice reminder that where you're coming from doesn't limit what you're capable of,” she said. “You shouldn't count yourself out just because you're not in the ‘typical’ background or environment people expect to see."
Three summers later, having transferred into George Mason’s civil engineering program through the ADVANCE transfer pathway, she continues to work with Terracon full-time during breaks and part-time during the academic year.
Now a senior, she works primarily with Terracon's geotechnical engineering team. The work combines analytical engineering with extensive field experience, taking her across Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia evaluating sites large and small, from commercial and retail developments to government facilities, playgrounds, parking lots, and associated site work like stormwater facilities and retaining walls. One day she may be analyzing soil samples and preparing reports in the office. The next, she could be standing on a remote construction site investigating conditions that no one anticipated.
"Nobody thinks about this stuff,” Gebremichael explained. “We get a lot of out-of-nowhere situations where you have to figure it out when we get there." While preparing for a site investigation in Frederick, Maryland, for example, Gebremichael discovered an unexpected river cutting through the property and an aging metal bridge that heavy drilling equipment would need to cross. After surveying the site, she helped identify an alternative access route and keep the project moving forward. Such experiences taught Gebremichael that successful engineering depends on adaptability as well as technical expertise.
George Mason's civil engineering program reinforces that lesson by encouraging students to build broad knowledge across multiple disciplines. "I like that I get an underlying base of everything," she said of her degree program. "So that, let's say I get put in a situation where I have to evaluate someone else's work, I can sit in a room with other people and understand what they're talking about."
Gebremichael plans to pursue Fundamentals of Engineering and Professional Engineer licensure after graduation as she continues gaining expertise in the field, with plans to continue at Terracon full-time. Her curiosity and willingness to embrace new opportunities has allowed her to lay the groundwork for a successful engineering career.