2024 40 Under 40: Yevgeniya (Jane) Baikadanova, PE, 36
Principal/Owner, IPQ LLC; MS, Systems Engineering, George Washington University
After moving to the United States in 2008 from her home country of Kazakhstan, Baikadanova worked several odd jobs to put herself through graduate school. Most notably, she worked as a receptionist for a prominent engineering firm in Virginia, confident that her dedication to the industry would land her an engineering role. In 2011, her confidence was rewarded with her first job as a junior engineer. Since then, she has worked as a senior electrical engineer and project manager, where she has designed and calculated lighting and power systems for health care facilities, government, commercial facilities and more. As a senior electrical engineer, Baikadanova led a team of junior engineers and drafters to prepare schematic and detailed construction documents. She also has contributed to Consulting-Specifying Engineer as an author, webcast host and podcast guest. She credits her time in the service industry for her strong people skills that make her stand out as an engineer. In 2023, she made the daring switch to entrepreneurship and opened her own firm, which she hopes will show her 3-year-old son that with hard work and perseverance, anything is possible. Her current and past colleagues highlight not only her magnetic personality and work ethic, but also the resiliency in her story and how it can help inspire others. Baikadanova herself hopes to do the same in the day-to-day of her career. Outside of work, Baikadanova enjoys riding motorcycles and dirt bikes, hosting cookouts and training her Swiss Shepard on dog agility courses.
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