November Chapter Meeting – ASHRAE Puget Sound 2021-2022

An Inclusion Mindset

Recent events highlight the need to have a frank conversation about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace.  As a minimum standard in civil society, all people should be able to come to work without being harassed, belittled or pre-judged.  This session is about how to grow beyond that minimum standard towards an inclusion mindset that actively seeks the breadth of thought that comes when organizations incorporate diversity within their midst as a better reflection of the real world.  The speaker will weave together story, research from the US, and personal insight to discuss the topic of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with the goal of empowering audience members to own their voice, authority, and influence.

Speaker:

Erin McConahey is a Principal in Mechanical Engineering with Arup, an employee-owned global engineering, advisory and planning consulting firm. During her 26 years with Arup, she has worked internationally and now leads multidisciplinary design teams in Los Angeles on a wide variety of project types.

Erin’s passion for finding integrated design solutions through a collaborative design process began with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Structural Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.  As she rose in leadership within her firm, she served on Arup’s global Trustee Board, was named an Arup Fellow for her technical excellence, spearheaded the Americas Region Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, and served on the leadership teams for a number of training programs.  These service opportunities, coupled with growing concern over climate change, led her to a second Master’s degree in Ethical Leadership from Claremont Lincoln University.

Erin is a Professional Engineer in California and Colorado, a LEED accredited professional (BD+C specialty), an ASHRAE accredited High Performance Building Design Professional, and a Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers.  She is co-author of the ASHRAE Natural Ventilation Design Guide and writes semi-annually for the Engineer’s Notebook column in ASHRAE Journal.  In the latter capacity, she has emphasized the link between mechanical engineers’ “skills for this decade” to the wider global trends around the carbon economy, healthy materials, and sustainable development.