Faces of SGH: Lena Currie

Lena’s Key Stats:

• Joined SGH: 2014 and 2023.
• Current role: Senior Project Manager, Waltham, MA.
• Specialty: Historic preservation.
• Education: Smith College, Northampton, MA (B.S. in Civil Engineering) and University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (M.S. in Structural Engineering).
• Favorite place: Western Massachusetts. It’s where I went to school and always find an excuse to visit.
• Top bucket list item: To get on (and win) the TV show “Survivor.”
• This month’s highlight: Attending my first-ever WNBA game in-person.
• First to-do in the morning: Coffee and special one-on-one time with my youngest son, Bentley.

Can you describe your career journey?

My professional journey hasn’t been traditional, especially compared to some of my SGH colleagues here who started their careers straight out of school. I was a structural bridge engineer for five years before learning about building enclosure engineering at an SGH open house. I felt it was important at that stage of my professional career to pause and reevaluate my path—was I really doing the work I was passionate about? I’ve spoken about my journey to various women’s organizations and student groups and I emphasize that your career path does not need to be linear—it can be a series of sidesteps, reevaluations, and adjustments to find what drives and motivates you.

Speaking of sidestepping, I did step away from SGH for two years during the height of the pandemic when, like many working parents in the industry, I needed to focus on supporting my growing family at home. The day after my fourth son was adopted in 2023, I felt ready to reallocate my time once again towards working on the most technically challenging and rewarding projects at SGH. I am a proud “boomerang” employee! SGH welcomed me back with open arms.

Do you have advice for young people pursuing an engineering career?

Engineering is not strictly about math and science—it’s about curiosity and solving everyday problems. I tell young people to start by exploring their neighborhood and surroundings—observe the buildings and question why things are the way they are. Curiosity and a desire to understand are the foundations for building an engineering career.

Much of engineering can be explored and learned “hands-on,” not just in the classroom. One thing in particular I love about our building enclosure engineering practice is that we do a lot of apprentice-style learning on the job. While many of us have strong academic backgrounds, our day-to-day learning is taught by people who preceded us. They bring us into the field, point out observations, and show us how to draw and interpret what we are seeing and why.

Do you have a favorite memory from your SGH career?

Definitely. We were working on a complicated reroofing project that had enormous pieces of ice falling onto the roof and damaging it every winter. To develop roof replacement options that would withstand such massive and repeated ice impact, we decided to shoot large pieces of ice at different roofing mockups to evaluate their performance. So, very early in my career, this project presented me with the opportunity to document the physical, tangible outcome of launching four-foot-long ice missiles at 70 mph onto these roof replacement mockups. This is the epitome of SGH—if it’s never been done or tried before, we’re all in!

What are you excited about in the next stage of your career?

I’m excited about pursuing projects at the intersection of adding community value, addressing the sustainability and environmental crisis, and telling a diverse group of preservation stories. I’m excited to focus my historic preservation skillset on projects that uplift the community as a whole and invite diverse voices and perspectives into the industry.

What does hitting 750 employees mean to you?

SGH has grown so much since I started ten years ago. That growth forces us to focus on mentorship and ways to share knowledge more openly and efficiently as the company grows. We invest in our talent development and training, offering a wide range of opportunities to staff members at all levels. I’ve seen this amazing cultural transition in my tenure, to a point where I am surrounded by people who are enthusiastic to share their experiences and eager to lend a hand. At the end of the day, we are all about solving the problem and setting our team members up for success. With 750 employees, we are more ready to do that than ever before.