Pennoni’s Employee Spotlight series gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the talented individuals who make our company thrive. Each month, we highlight a team member’s journey, passion for engineering and innovation, and unique impact at Pennoni.
This month, we featuring Teresa Scrocca, PE, PTOE, senior engineer in our Newark, DE office. With 14 years of experience in the transportation/traffic industry, Teresa has worked on both public and private projects. Her experience includes traffic analysis, safety evaluations, signing/striping design, traffic signal design, maintenance of traffic schemes, TMP monitoring, lighting analysis/design and various traffic studies (signal & lane warrant analyses, speed studies, alternatives analyses, HSM analyses, TIS, etc.). She received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees (Civil – Transportation) from Villanova University. She previously served as Villanova’s ITE Student Chapter Liaison for over 7 years. She is a native New Yorker, now living in Delaware.
As a civil engineer in our transportation division, you’ve built a strong career working on everything from traffic studies to safety analyses and signal design. What initially drew you to transportation engineering, and what keeps you passionate about this field today?
My path toward transportation engineering did not begin until my sophomore year of college at Villanova University. I can pinpoint my interest in civil engineering back to a single career day in my junior year of high school. A USACE professional came and spoke about her expertise in beach repair and her background in environmental engineering. That presentation completely changed my future, from looking at colleges for pre-veterinary or marine biology degrees, to colleges with civil engineering degrees. Once I began taking engineering classes at Villanova, I realized I disliked chemistry, but luckily, I started to enjoy my transportation and structural classes. My sophomore-year advisor, Dr. Leslie McCarthy, who was the transportation engineering professor, took me under her wing and essentially helped me get my first job out of college!
The wide range of projects I work on, including pedestrian improvements, bridge rehabilitation and private developments, keeps this field interesting. Seeing how essential traffic engineering is to each project means no two days are ever the same.
In your role within the transportation division, you’ve contributed to projects for agencies like DelDOT, PennDOT and MDOT, including complex bridge replacements and roadway improvements. Which project has been the most impactful or rewarding for you, and why?
Any project I can work on from start to finish is always very rewarding! You can see the improvements and impact on the traveling public that hours upon hours of work contributed to. One project that sticks out in my mind would be a USACE/DelDOT bridge project where Pennoni, as a sub to the contractor J.D. Eckman, provided maintenance of traffic and contractor quality control for the deck replacement of the St. Georges Bridge over the C-D Canal in Delaware. What makes this project stand out is that I was able to attend the ribbon-cutting for the bridge’s reopening (my first ribbon-cutting ceremony!) and network with some DelDOT staff and local legislators.
As a civil engineer focused on transportation, your work involves analyzing crash data, forecasting traffic patterns and designing solutions that improve safety and efficiency. How do you balance technical data with real-world community needs when making engineering decisions?
When it comes to traffic design and operations, you need to first realize that there is no one solution that will solve the issues of each user, from vehicles to trucks to pedestrians to bicyclists to transit. The data helps you understand the issues at hand and evaluate potential solutions. However, you need to meet with the community and gather their feedback to understand what they see as the issues. As engineers, we have to approach each project with the knowledge that we won’t appease every person, but that we do our best to make the roads safer.
Pennoni is known for its collaborative and people-focused culture. What’s something about working here that stands out to you or makes it unique?
Definitely the people! Finding a career and a company where you enjoy working with your coworkers and colleagues is a huge win. All Pennoni staff I have worked with are willing to assist wherever possible. After talking with friends and family, I truly believe that the culture at Pennoni is rare in that the staff is considerate, caring, and genuinely interested in how people’s days are going.
With over a decade of experience as a civil engineer in transportation, what advice would you give to young engineers, especially those interested in this field who are just starting their careers?
Take the leap and trust your gut! Engineering was never on my radar as a career growing up. I always thought I wanted to be either a teacher or a veterinarian. My future changed in a flash, and I’ve never looked back. I enjoy what I do and who I work with. If something seems right, go for it, whether it’s a job offer in a different state or for a position in a field you never even thought about. Take the chance!