Michelle Martucci (B.S. civil engineering, 2013) likes work that asks a lot
of questions at once. As a project manager with The Walsh Group, she leads
construction inside busy airport terminals where every decision touches
travelers, airline partners and operations. Success is simple to describe
and hard to deliver: solve problems, keep people safe, and finish so
smoothly that no one in a security line ever knew you were there.
She credits Drexel’s co-op with shaping that mindset. Her first rotation
with AMEC Earth and Environmental taught scheduling and professional basics.
The second, with the City of Philadelphia, showed how a public agency runs a
job site. The third proved decisive. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers placed
her in geotechnical work, and she spent time reading boring logs and joining
dam inspections. She enjoyed the position so much that she stayed on part
time through senior year.
“That third co-op clicked immediately,” she said. “I liked geotechnical work
from day one, and the responsibility I had there set me up for what came
next.” The experience led to a full-time geotechnical role with YU &
Associates. “That first job built my technical base,” she said. “It gave me
the confidence to take on bigger problems.”
The pivot to major aviation work began at LaGuardia Airport and started
across a construction fence. “I was working on soil borings for YU on
Terminal C when I saw heavy pile rigs on the Terminal B redevelopment, which
was being managed by Walsh,” Martucci recalled. “I struck up a conversation
through the fence, shared my resume, and realized I was ready to move into
construction.”
The leap felt bold and necessary. “It was a scary transition to leave what I
knew, but it was the right move for my career,” she said.
She spent six more years at LaGuardia Airport and wore many hats, including
Design Manager and Superintendent before relocating for a project at Dallas
Fort Worth International Airport, where Walsh delivered a record setting
modular build for an expansion of Terminal C. The team fabricated six
450-ton steel modules off site and moved them into place on self propelled
modular transporters, threading cramped spaces; in one case, a module had
just seven inches of vertical clearance under a light rail overpass. In six
moves over 10 days, an 80,000 square foot concourse arrived while terminal
operations stayed up.
“What stays with me is how exact every step had to be,” she said. “We
planned every inch so passengers never felt the work, and it taught me how
coordination can make something that complex look simple.”
Relocating once again to Florida, Martucci led a full replacement of the
outbound baggage handling system and delivered a new checked baggage
inspection room with supporting spaces at Sarasota-Bradenton International
Airport. The work ran in phases inside an active terminal, sequenced around
airlines and TSA testing, and it finished ahead of schedule, on budget, and
without safety incidents.
“It was the first project I led as a project manager, and I am still proud
of it,” she said. “The client was collaborative, the team chemistry was
strong, and bringing a complex system online while the terminal stayed open
showed me how good planning and clear communication can carry a job to the
finish.”
The project at Sarasota led to yet another opportunity for Martucci:
overseeing growth for Walsh’s aviation group in the Southeast. Late last
year, the firm was awarded work at Charleston International Airport to add a
third explosive detection system machine, increasing checked baggage
capacity. In Florida, the team just broke ground on a five gate terminal
expansion at Pensacola International Airport that will also double the size
of the security checkpoint.
As the growth of her portfolio takes off, Martucci remains grounded in the
things she loves about her work.
"Construction is a people business, even more than a technical one,” she
said. “When you know how to work with designers, everything goes more
smoothly because it is a 'help me help you' relationship. When you add in
operations, security, badging and precisely-phased construction, it becomes
a satisfying puzzle that takes a strong team working together to solve.”
Working on that puzzle time and time again has given her a kind of x-ray
vision.
“When I walk into an airport, I have a good sense of what is happening
behind the walls,” Martucci said with a laugh. “I follow the wires, trace
the ductwork and try to figure out what the crews are doing and how we might
do it differently.”
For Martucci, the appeal is equal parts precision, teamwork and public
impact. “Being an engineer is not about being the smartest person in the
room,” she added. “Drexel taught me to use every resource available to solve
a problem, and that mindset is exactly why I love this work.”