As structural engineer Jan Vacca stopped in her office to grab coats and bags before heading to a jobsite in Philadelphia, she apologized for the clutter to graduate student Megan A. Toumanios—Vacca's "shadow for a day." Clutter aside, the eye-catcher in the office that morning was the desk wall, which is papered with pithy sayings.

VACCA

"Angry people do not listen." "The more incompetent people are, the more competent they believe they are." "A fool flatters himself; a wise woman flatters the fool." Vacca's favorite quote, despite no mention ofwomen, is Abraham Lincoln's: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

The many postings, including good-behavior lists, are like mantras. "They are a comfort to me and they reground me," says Vacca, a vice president of The Harman Group Inc., King of Prussia, Pa.

3月27日，Vacca向Lehigh University毕业的未来结构工程师Toumanios提供了建议。瓦卡说：“不要害怕提出问题或犯错误。”“这就是我们学习的方式。”

合作者

Vacca还分享了她的哲学。Vacca说：“我坚持认为，设计和施工过程涉及每个人 - 承包商，潜艇，每个人。”她说，她自己参与分包商协会睁开了眼睛，关注合作的重要性。

当存在现场问题时，VACCA会帮助修复它而不是指向手指。Aquinas Realty Partnership总裁Leonard Poncia说：“ Jan有能力研究所有参数并实现目标。”

Toumanios将所有东西都饮酒，拖延了Vacca，穿过她的巡回演出，看着她与男人的打交道。其中包括一次内部工作会议，工作场所访问和客户收缩者集思广益会议。

"Jan is very impressive. Everyone respects her," said Toumanios. "The field is the most unwelcome and intimidating place for a woman," she added. "Jan's gender did not come into play."

"The responsibilities of being a structural engineer are huge," the 25-year veteran of engineering told her protégée. "Sometimes, it keeps us sleepless."

Career-related insomnia hasn't slowed Vacca. She is currently leading some two-dozen projects, valued at $750 million. She has designed schools, hotels, casinos, resorts, hospitals, parking garages, residential buildings and office structures.

Though the only female of four shareholders in her 25-person firm, the 57-year-old Vacca has little patience for special treatment of women. "The last thing I ever want to be is isolated as a female engineer," she said. "I want to be an engineer who is female." Invoking another mantra, she added, "'I am what I do, not what I am.'"

Vacca's rise to vice president was slowed somewhat by the duties and responsibilities of single motherhood. But her daughter, Morgan, is grown, freeing Vacca to attend to her own professional bucket list. "I would love to do a 100-story building," she said.