Our speaker at our most recent WV Coding Club meeting was Lindsay Kelly, Associate Engineer with Walter P Moore. Lindsay is from Charleston, West Virginia, now living in Florida.
Growing up, she attended schools in the Charleston, WV area before going to WVU (West Virginia University) to earn her Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering and then her Masters of Science in Structural Engineering. During her education she learned basic to intermediate level coding and has made use of that learning in her professional career.
Through her hard work and efforts, she was able to earn a Disney internship, where she was a Structural Engineering Intern at Disney World in Orlando, Florida for one year. Through the internship and her professional career Lindsay has worked on a variety of projects at Disney World. They include rapelling the Tower of Terror for inspections, Water Park projects, and rehab projects throughout all four (4) Disney World Parks. Her work has included inspecting the various structures and providing designs for updates. Other projects she has worked with have included the Floating Mountains from Avatar and Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge - Star Wars at Walt Disney World. A lot of her work, especially on inspections, are done "behind the scenes" working when guests weren’t there overnight and very early in the morning to help keep that Disney "Magic".
Lindsay shared she has and does work with other theme parks, and other non-theme park projects inside and outside the state of Florida. She has also worked on hotels and airports. She took time to share photos of past projects in various stages of development to give the students an idea of what it takes to make the "Magic" that they see as a finished product.
In Lindsay's work, she uses software for designing structures and features. By using her coding experience she is able to leverage the design software to save time and be more efficient.
Outside of Engineering and Coding, Lindsay's advice to the students is to network with other people. Building relationships with others professionally is very important. Adults/Professionals do want to help young people, so take the time to ask for help/advice. Lindsay shared that LinkedIn.com is a good resource to help you network.
Lindsay's parting advice is don’t be afraid to try an internship. That experience can have a great impact on your future career. And be persistent, you won’t reach you career goals overnight.
Dan McElroy, President of the West Virginia Coding Club, explained, "Lindsay helps to show there are many careers that benefit from knowledge and experience in coding. She is another West Virginian doing amazing and magical things. Thank you Lindsay for taking time to share your experiences and insights with our WV Coding Club students."
Thank you Lindsay!
Keep Coding!