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A mentorship program in high school helped spur Valery Calcedo’s decision to major in civil and environmental engineering. The school paired her with a transportation safety researcher in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and Valery soon set her eyes on a career in the field.
In addition to learning from her mentor, she had the opportunity to network with professionals across a broad spectrum of transportation-related topics, from autonomous vehicles to highway runoff. She also visited a crash test site.
Those experiences sparked a trajectory that is now culminating in her senior year of college and an upcoming transition to professional life. During her time at UMD, she has been a driving force in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers’ (SHPE) student chapter, becoming president during her junior year; she continues to serve in that role. Since 2024, Calcedo has been a Clark Ambassador.
Who or what inspires you?
My mom is definitely the person who I look up to the most. As a single mother, she has faced and overcome many challenges.. She's inspired me to work hard, while showing me that I can do anything that I set my mind to.
With regard to transportation, specifically, the service-based nature of the field is something that appeals to me, As a civil engineer, the work you do is for people. You’re engineering things that will get used and will benefit others.
What advice would you give incoming students?
Just keep going. I know sometimes it can seem difficult—you’re applying for internships, for instance, and you keep getting denied or ignored. While this can be discouraging, you just have to persevere and know that putting in the hard work is going to reward itself, and you will be successful as long as you keep doing that.
It’s also important to market yourself and grow your network from the beginning. Engineering is a multidisciplinary, people-focused field. It does no one any good if you cannot communicate your ideas or if you have no one to listen to you. Take part in organizations on campus and go to career fairs. Meeting people and being on good terms with them is key to a successful journey in engineering.
What is one of your proudest achievements?
I’d say my biggest accomplishment has been my role in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). I’ve been involved since my sophomore year and then I was chosen to attend the SHPE national convention. That gave me insights into what the organization does on a national level, working to empower Latinos in STEM fields. It inspired me to want to take on a leadership role in our chapter, and in my junior year I became president. Since then, I’ve done a lot of work with recruitment and retention, and that;’s something I’m proud of.
Another highlight for me has been a research position I’ve had with Professor Cinzia Cirillo, who specializes in transportation engineering research. I’ve worked with her on projects related to e-bikes and e-bike safety. I’ve been really glad to have the chance to get involved in research as an undergraduate.
I was able to participate in ENCE489J, a multidisciplinary, team-based project course. In this class, we developed solutions to topics related to the UN Sustainability Goals, with a focus on Denmark. This course gave me a kind of confidence that the curriculum in other courses doesn’t typically cultivate. We not only learned about engineering in another country but also had the opportunity to present our projects abroad as part of the experience. It allowed me to apply the knowledge I’ve accumulated over my three years of college—both academic and social. Adapting to and learning about how another country approaches engineering challenges truly broadened my perspective.
September 30, 2025
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