Smita N. Shah SM '96
Earning the Confidence to Build Bridges Professionally and Personally
Smita Shah SM '96, a Clinton White House staffer, with Senator Hillary Clinton.
Smita Shah SM '96 came to MIT looking for something. "I'd worked at the Clinton White House in the Chief of Staff's Office," she recalls. "I met people who handed incredible challenges. I wanted that kind of confidence."
So in fall 1994, Shah began her master's in civil and environmental engineering. "Earning that demanding MIT credential really helped me a lot," she says. When her first job began to hamper her growth, she asked herself what should she do? A confident answer came back: "Start my own company."
Today, Smita Shah is the president of SPAAN Technology, Inc. Founded in 1998, this Chicago-based firm now employs 41 professionals providing construction management, engineering, and facility/technology services. Clients include a wide range of public and private organizations including the State of Illinois, Exelon (Commonwealth Edison), the City of Chicago, U.S. Department of Energy, and Illinois Toll Highway Authority. Last summer, Senator Barbara Boxer presented Smita Shah with the 2004 Women Making History Award honoring her success as an entrepreneur.
"We took on an odd array of jobs at first, but it kept us going and growing," Shah notes. "Suddenly one day, you have a solid reputation and you get to build things." For example, SPAAN has entered a joint venture to build the first runway in O'Hare Airport's $6 billion expansion.
An Illinois Arts Council board member since she was 25, Shah is secretary of the famed Steppenwolf Theater. "Working with artists is fascinating, great fun, and a real balance in my life," Shah observes.
Shah was a delegate at the 1996 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions and was on the DNC's Rules Committee in 2000 and 2004. "I'm a big believer in having a voice at the table. Indian-Americans' political coming of age is exciting, we are such a young community."
"Last year, the Chicago Sun Times ran a series last year honoring 100 outstanding women in various fields," Shah recalls. "Not one woman engineer or applied scientist made the list. What's the message to little girls who love math and science, like I did? Where's the encouragement? An engineer is who I am, and I love what I do."
(First published in Technology Review, August 2005)
