When Kelly Hewton was young, she spent a day at a construction site near Philadelphia International Airport as a part of Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day. “I remember running around the office trailers and seeing all the large equipment and piles of earth getting moved around while planes took off in the background,” she says. Since then, she has always had an interest in construction and engineering.

A graduate of Syracuse University, Kelly began her career in the environmental field, where her work included Phase I/Phase II environmental site assessments, remediation system design, and hazardous material surveys. As part of her past environmental work, Kelly contributed to a methodology to quantify biodegradation induced through bioventing. This methodology was critical to the successful remediation of several large environmentally-hazardous work sites. The process was featured at BP’s Remediation Technical Conference.

Kelly is currently a project engineer in Urban’s aviation division. She has contributed to projects at regional airports including Philadelphia International, Trenton-Mercer, and JFK International, as well as the navy airbase in California’s China Lake. Since entering the aviation field, Kelly has been exposed to new technical skills and the unique challenges of aviation engineering – way more than she imagined as a child. She also has found her diverse background useful. “By combining my environmental engineering experience with knowledge of civil and aviation techniques,” she says, “I hope to bring a broader perspective to problem-solving.”

In her free time, Kelly is an avid reader, enjoys biking and golf, and has recently begun piano lessons. Additionally, she is volunteering to champion the aviation section of the ASCE Report Card for Pennsylvania’s infrastructure. “The experience has made me feel more connected to other aviation professionals and has heightened my awareness of projects going on throughout the state,” she says. “It makes me feel proud and motivated to continue to be a part of enhancing aviation infrastructure throughout the state.”