2020 Women in Construction: Natasha Kulchitsky Structural Engineer TFMoran

What was your greatest professional achievement or most notable project in the last 12 months? I started a civil engineering program at the University of Alaska when I was 37 years old. Pretty late… Being very ambitious in the beginning, I quickly had to understand that an engineering career would not be easy and graceful. Balancing between endless homework assignments, labs, being a TA, and family activities (I had three kids) was a big challenge. When I graduated and started working, I was placed in the technical world with lots of terms and approaches which seemed quite new to me again. English is my second language and so I had no idea how fasteners could be adhesive and why a kicker could hold a parapet in place. Some people told me that it would be better to switch to a more feminine profession. But I told myself that men would meet the same difficulties and just kept going. Last December I received my professional license which became a proof that my choice of engineering was a reasonable and right decision. It could not happen without support of my close family and TFMoran colleagues who always were extremely patient, encouraging and friendly to me.

Who or what inspired you to join the construction industry? I loved math since I was a little girl. Mathematics was my favorite subject during all school years and became my first major at the Moscow State University in Russia. I always wanted that my work would be related to numbers and logic. Joining the construction industry and engineering design, I was able to apply math to the real world.

When I’m not working I am… dancing. I take adult ballet classes which keep me motivated and I always want more. I also choreograph dances for various groups of children and adults.