Interview with CO/WY ITE Transportation Professional of the Year 2024 Lisa Nguyen
Posted by cowyite on Aug. 5, 2024 / Colorado-Wyoming Section Notifications / Subscribe 0
Lisa Nguyen, PE - Principal Airport Transportation Planner, Denver International Airport (DEN)
ITE Colorado/Wyoming Section 2024 Transportation Professional of the Year Award
Lisa Nguyen has been selected as our Section’s 2024 Transportation Professional of the Year. She has continually made significant contributions to our industry through a variety of positions while managing a busy life outside of transportation engineering.
Lisa is currently a Principal Airport Transportation Planner at Denver International Airport (DEN) and has been working at the airport for the past five years. She specializes in helping airport staff and patrons move in modes besides planes, including trains, buses, and cars. Lisa recently served as the project manager for the Pena Blvd Transportation and Mobility Study, a comprehensive plan with ground transportation and mobility goals. She will also be leading the airport in implementing its first Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan, which will implement twenty strategies to encourage sustainable transportation for passengers and employees at DEN.
Lisa started her professional career during her freshman year of college, where she was offered a summer internship at the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). While living in Topeka, KS had its own separate story, it’s where Lisa I fell in love with transportation. As she said during her interview, “… from field work (we got to test retro-reflectivity) to safety audits to public meetings on roundabouts, I loved it all.” Since obtaining her BS in Civil Engineering and her MS in Transportation Engineering, she worked for several consulting firms and public agencies before joining the team at DEN. When asked to compare public and private sector employment, Lisa responded “Just like anything in life, there are pros and cons”. In the private sector, she enjoyed the variety of projects and clients, as well as the business development aspects. One drawback is that sometimes plans or projects may get shelved; and of course, tracking billable hours is never fun. In the public sector, she enjoys being in the project management role as an owner and working with various stakeholders who aren’t always engineers. She’s come to truly appreciate the value of communication, and how politics may influence projects as well. A drawback can be that government processes can take longer than desired, but it also builds an appreciation for each of the steps and why they’re there.
In addition to her ongoing support of ITE, Lisa volunteers with several other organizations. She is an active volunteer for WTS Colorado, volunteering on the professional development committee and TransportationYOU. Lisa is an active member of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), helping to promote diversity in STEM and encouraging leadership roles for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). She also volunteers with Asian Girls Ignite, a non-profit that provides education programs for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) girls and gender-expansive youth to amplify their individuality and celebrate their culture.
Outside of professional pursuits, Lisa has been married to her husband Ricky for nine years. They met while she was working on her BS at the Colorado School of Mines, where the male-to-female ratio was 4:1. Lisa likes to joke that the odds are good, but the good ones are odd. She is currently living in Centennial, but was born and raised in Grand Junction, CO. Lisa admits to becoming a Colorado stereotype. She lives for ski season and usually aims for upwards of 20+ days a year. Lisa loves hiking and trail running – there’s always a new view or adventure to be had. She is also a huge foodie and has been at Yelp Elite for nearly 10 years, which reflects her passion for finding new restaurants, bars, and experiences. Her favorite is finding a new dumpling spot and boba tea! When asked about her favorite vacations, Lisa shared that she and her husband had the absolute best February 2nd ever in 2018. They celebrated Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania! They got to meet the legendary Punxsutawney Phil, THE groundhog of Groundhog Day. Just like the movie Groundhog Day, this small town grows four times its size in quirky, festive, and fun entertainment celebrating a special rodent.
When Lisa was asked about which of her projects she is the proudest of, she immediately mentioned DEN’s transportation demand management (TDM) plan, which sets goals for mode shift and encourages sustainable transportation for DEN passengers and employees. As the third-busiest airport in North America, DEN served nearly 78 million passengers in 2023 and employs over 40,000 people. That’s a lot of people to move back and forth to the airport! By 2035, DEN is aiming to increase passenger transit ridership by 10% and decrease employee drive-alone rates by 10%. To achieve this, DEN has established 20 different strategies in the TDM plan, including creating an airport-specific guaranteed ride home program, incentivizing vanpooling with priority parking and a discounted airport vanpool fare, providing free transit to all new employees, and the creation of a faster security line for passengers who ride transit to the airport.
Lisa also talked about funny stories she has come across in her career. Many of them revolve around her current job at DEN. Do aliens really live in the underground bunkers? Is Mustang, the beautiful horse statue, cursed? Did the New World Order build DEN? Are gargoyles conspiring in something evil in the baggage claim system? All of these conspiracy theories (and more) help in bringing humor and fun to her work at DEN! Lisa refused to confirm or deny any of these stories 😉.
When asked about the future of our industry, Lisa responded that having representation and creating a space of belonging takes all of us. As an employee of DEN, she has had the opportunity to not only share her personal commitment and passion for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), but also help in projecting the City of Denver’s values and commitment to DEI in all aspects of work. For any interview - whether personnel or projects - DEN requires a DEI question and statement from applicants. Regardless of role or project value, DEI is required. This commitment is helping to shift our transportation industry on a larger scale.
Lisa was also asked how she would address a class of potential engineering students, i.e., still in high school or in college, to encourage them to join our profession. She responded that she would ask the students about daily life. How do you get to school? How does your family get to places? Have you ever flown on a trip? Their responses would make the point that, whether it’s by car, plane, train, or bike, transportation engineers and planners play a big role in helping make sure we can move safely and efficiently to our destinations. Based on personal experience, she would also remind students to be open to asking questions early and often. She had to learn to fight her ego the hard way and to recognize there’s never a “perfect” stage of any project or task. Unlike school, the workplace can be very collaborative and iterative - ask your team, your boss, your peers about your work. And stay curious!
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