By Neil Nachbar
Rachel Dooley never imagined becoming a traffic engineer, ever mind being honored for excelling at it.
The University of Rhode Island graduate was named to the Engineering News-Record (ENR) New England’s Class of 2020 Top Young Professionals on Nov. 13.
“I was surprised when I found out that I made the list,” said Dooley, who works for the design/engineering firm VHB. “It’s a great feeling to have my work acknowledged, not only by my managers who nominated me, but by the Engineering News-Record that selected me for this list.”
When Dooley applied to the engineering program at URI, she thought she wanted to be a structural engineer and design skyscrapers. After an internship with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), she wanted to design bridges instead.
Just out of college, VHB hired the Cranston, Rhode Island resident as a highway engineer. After two years, Dooley switched tracks to traffic engineering, which she’s been doing for the last five years.
“There are so many different paths that you can take with a degree in civil engineering,” said the 31-year-old. “It’s like an all-access pass. I never knew the field of traffic engineering existed, but I love it.”
Working out of VHB’s Providence office, Dooley spends most of her time on traffic signal design, traffic control plans and roadway design.
“I split my time between developing final design plans and fine-tuning traffic signal systems to ensure that they are processing traffic as efficiently as possible,” said Dooley.
Some of the major design projects Dooley has been involved in include the replacement of the I-95 viaduct in Providence, the Route 6/10 interchange project and most recently, the Pell Bridge ramp redesign in Newport.
Another high-profile project that Dooley worked on was the Statewide Wrong-Way Driving Mitigation Program that RIDOT implemented in 2015.
VHB designed the wrong-way driver detection systems that RIDOT installed at 24 off-ramps throughout the state. They alert the driver and the state police when someone enters a highway off-ramp in the wrong direction.
“The detection systems have alerted hundreds of drivers that they are entering the highway in the wrong direction since they were installed,” said Dooley. “It’s extremely rewarding to know that I played a role in preventing crashes.”
Dooley received her bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from URI in 2010 and her master’s degree in the same field in 2011.
Thanks to the variety of courses Dooley took during her undergraduate studies, she felt well-equipped when she entered the engineering profession.
“There are so many skills that you don’t learn until you start working, but URI helped lay the foundation for me to excel as quickly as possible,” stated Dooley. “I can be in a meeting with a structural engineer, an environmental engineer, and a geotechnical engineer and understand what is being discussed, even though none of those specific fields are my area of focus.”
While at URI, Dooley participated in the student chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. She was also a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and the Chi Epsilon civil engineering honor society.
As one of the 10 regional winners of the ENR award, Dooley will be considered for ENR’s National Top Young 20 Under 40 honors, which will be announced in spring 2020.