My Hallam Story
Shawna Winters

Base Office: South Burlington, VT

Email: swinters@hallam-ics.com

MEP Engineering

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Shawna Winters | Mechanical Engineer

Racing cars as a young child brought me into the mechanical world and was the spark to start growing and building my mechanical background and intuition. I started racing small racecars known as quarter-midgets when I was six years old under the support and guidance from my mother, who was a paramedic, and my father, who was a mechanic. I eventually stopped racing as academics were more important to me. Even though I stopped, I have since enjoyed the time spent working on and repairing my ’98 Jeep Wrangler with my parents. The lessons learned with the time spent and work done, gave me the confidence to pursue mechanical based courses in college.

Once at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, I was able to put my skills to use on two major projects. The first major project that I was part of was in my third year at WPI. My team and I connected with female engineers and technicians working in the wastewater sector of Albania, where female engineers are underrepresented and discriminated against due to the lack of diversity. We established an online platform for a network of women, where events are hosted, and it provides a space for mentorship and advice. The second project was both personal and important to me as it is now patent pending and has been passed along to the next group of students for further improvement. On my first day of college, during freshman orientation I tore the labrum in my shoulder, requiring surgery to continue competing in college sports. I went through the whole recovery process to compete and made a recovery by the next year. This was not fun, but at the end of my junior year, I had an opportunity to join a team that had a goal of developing a biomechanically accurate shoulder model. I then saw the silver lining in needing that procedure, as I was able to bring an extra perspective to that team. Our shoulder model specifically replicated the complex motion of the scapula and came within millimeters of the anatomical data we used to validate our physical model. With the success of our model, we were able to complete the Major Qualifying Project requirement portion of our undergraduate degrees. I am incredibly grateful for these experiences and the people who taught me more ways to think mechanically and how to use the tools and techniques that I have gone on to use later in life in school or at work.

I came across Hallam-ICS and their internship posting during the spring of my junior year at WPI. I had looked for an internship in many places and was becoming increasingly overwhelmed as I was not overly excited about any of the companies or job descriptions I was finding. I did some research into Hallam-ICS and everything that I read was right on par with my morals and beliefs along with a description fitting my interests and needs. From interesting engineering and clients to their core values and ways of giving back I knew they were a good fit for me.

My beliefs about Hallam were reaffirmed after I spent that summer as an intern at the Massachusetts office working for Jamie Spalding. During the hiring process, I had met with Jamie on Zoom in the middle of the pandemic while everything was shut down and knew even over zoom that this company would be a good place to be at, especially in tough times. I went on to have a great summer working with a lot of wonderful people at the different Hallam-ICS locations. During my time spent interning that summer I learned a lot technically, but the experience also helped me confirm that I was on the right path with my choice in major and now, thankfully, job. When Bill Neuburger offered me a position to return the following summer at the Vermont location, I was thrilled as I am excited to be with a company as great as Hallam where I will be supported as I continue to grow as an engineer.  

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