2016 40 Under 40: Becca Delaney, PE, LEED AP BD+C, 33

MEP Team Leader, Associate, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Chicago Integrated BAE/MAE Architectural Engineering, Pennsylvania State University

By Jack Smith, Content Manager, and Amara Rozgus, Editor-in-Chief May 16, 2016

Becca Delaney, PE, LEED AP BD+C, 33

MEP Team Leader, Associate, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Chicago

Integrated BAE/MAE Architectural Engineering, Pennsylvania State University

After graduation, Delaney spent 4 years working for Buro Happold Consulting Engineers as a mechanical engineer in New York, London, and Leeds, England, collaborating on building designs throughout the U.K., Middle East, and U.S. She moved to Chicago in 2010 to accept a position as senior mechanical engineer at Primera Engineers. Delaney joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) in Chicago as mechanical team leader in 2014. She was selected as the ASHRAE "New Face in Engineering" in 2014 and received the Penn State "Alumni Achievement Award" in 2015. In addition to being a project manager for multidisciplinary sustainable-engineering project teams responsible for project delivery, coordination, resourcing, and budget, she is the youngest engineering team leader with SOM-a distinction she also earned at Primera. Projects included the design competition for the world’s tallest office tower, a LEED Gold high school for Chicago Public Schools, and a boutique high-rise art museum in New York. She has authored several articles for Consulting-Specifying Engineer related to her life as a young female engineer. Delaney also has developed a passion for the people and culture of Eastern Africa. Her work has led her to partner with organizations such as Engineers Without Borders, Umama, and Bright Hope. Her work has included protecting clean water, facilitating business workshops for female entrepreneurs, and designing a school to be a beacon of hope in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. She has gone whitewater rafting on the Nile River, gorilla trekking in the Congo, and on safaris in Tanzania. Delaney and her husband, Tom, do not have children of their own, but they do have nine nieces and three nephews who live in four states. Whenever there is a free moment, she is video chatting with her family or making plans to visit.