Ayse Heckel, Innovation Engineer

In the latest episode of the Unleashed Podcast, we got to know Ayse Heckel, an Innovation Engineer from our Dallas, TX, office. Ayse has only been with WGI for just over a year and has already made an impact by helping streamline processes and implement new technologies to help improve efficiency. Ayse talked to us about growing up as one of three sisters in a family who moved around a lot, jumping from Connecticut to Indiana and ultimately Texas, where she decided to put down roots. We discussed the cultural differences between the regions she has lived in and even tested out some of the local sayings and accents on each other. We learned that Ayse is a "triple threat," having attended Texas Tech University for her undergrad, where she double majored, receiving bachelor's degrees in Civil Engineering AND Architecture. And if that wasn't enough, she then went on to MIT and obtained her Master of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering. We discussed the invaluable instruction and mentorship she received during her first internship and how it helped her understand the real-life applications of the things she was learning in class. She then explained how she leveraged that internship into a full-time position with the same company during the height of the pandemic. She told us the story of how she joined WGI after a co-worker from her previous company offered her what she called "her dream job", helping jump-start the R&D Department for our Structural Engineering group. We learned what Ayse's role as an Innovation Engineer entails, which does not involve her working on any physical projects but is more focused on doing anything she can to make her Structural team more efficient and accurate at their jobs. Some of those tasks include but are not limited to organizing training exercises and making sure that all of the engineers are up to date on the latest regulatory information, as well as vetting different software or, in some cases, even writing that software or code. She was able to put those code writing skills she learned at MIT to work last year during our annual company innovation contest, where her team placed third, and they are currently in the process of developing the observation report app they submitted to be used internally across the company. We also talked about what Ayse enjoys doing in her spare time, which includes traveling out of the country as often as she can, playing volleyball and tennis, and spending time with her cat Ezra. Go listen to Ayse's episode now to learn what her hidden talent is, what prominent mountain range she has hiked, and where we all landed on the age 'ole debate of "Is a hot dog a sandwich?".