This month, we’re celebrating Women in Construction Week (March 6-12) with a blog series highlighting the value and ingenuity women bring to our member businesses. We’ll also feature careers and opportunities available to women interested in a rewarding, full-time job and being a part of the precast, prestressed concrete industry’s bright future.
PCI-MA: How do you describe your job to people?
Aultman: It’s always fun when people ask, “So, what do you do?” Depending on the moment, I may say “I’m a structural engineer” or “I work in precast concrete.” With the latter, a blank stare often follows because what is precast concrete? People know concrete, but they also call ready mix trucks “cement trucks,” which is one of my pet peeves. That is the moment I usually follow up by saying, “I basically play with giant LEGOs,” and go on to explain we pour pieces in our plant, put them on a truck to ship to a job site, and then connect it all together like a LEGO set.
PCI-MA: How did your career journey lead you to your company?
Aultman: I started at Metromont after I graduated with my master's degree in civil engineering from Clemson. An email was passed along to me that this company wanted to interview graduating students, and I happened to be the one who was hired. I started at Metromont in 2003 as a design engineer. Over the years, I have been Chief Engineer for our Hiram plant, Chief Engineer over all of the day-to-day engineering, Technical Manager, and most recently Vice President of Engineering.
PCI-MA: What is one of the greatest challenges you’ve faced in our industry and how have you overcome it?
Aultman: I think one of our greatest challenges has been and continues to be protecting our industry in the realm of building codes. We are a specialized concrete industry, but we get lumped together with more generic structural concrete design under the ACI 318 code. We are the experts in our industry. We do the needed research to prove our systems and designs work. Now we are working on developing the first Precast Concrete Building Code as a combined effort of PCI and ACI.
PCI-MA: What do you enjoy most about your job?
Aultman: The work we do is unique. Most engineers sit within an engineering firm where they work on computer models and design in that space. We do similar things, but we also produce our product and construct it ourselves. We have the added benefit of controlling how it all goes together and modifying those methods and parts to continue making our products the best they can be. This shows up in our ability to research and tweak the way we design, and a lot of this is done in partnership with other producers. Those who we compete with to get projects are the same ones we sit side by side with at PCI meetings and collaborate with on how to make the precast industry the best it can be.
PCI-MA: Do you have a mentor or role model? If so, how does this person support you in your personal and professional growth?
Aultman: I have several people who are mentors to me. Some are the top brains in precast concrete who I have been trained by over the years. I’m not sure when, but somewhere along the way, I went from listening to them speak to being asked for my opinion from them. I also have others who are not engineers who keep me in check to make sure I am not working too much, that I am having fun, and that I am taking care of me. Each time I talk with one friend and mentor, he will ask me “Who is responsible for you?” and “Who do you have to answer to?” It is his way to remind me that I am the one in charge of the direction of my life, and I must be the one who takes the steps to make my hopes and dreams come true.
PCI-MA: What are your career and life aspirations and goals?
Aultman: I knew I wanted to be an engineer as a kid because I was good at math, and I was fascinated by buildings. I worked for ten years in precast, and then I decided to get a master’s degree in counseling psychology. It’s quite different than engineering, but connecting with people in ways to counsel, mentor, and coach is a huge part of what I enjoy doing. I didn’t change career paths but began thinking about how the things I learned in my counseling program can be used to make me a better manager of people. I like taking engineering concepts and expanding those to our lives in general. We are all human, and we bring all our humanity into our jobs. I want those I work alongside to know they are valued in a holistic manner and to feel cared for exactly because of who they are.
PCI-MA: What advice would you give a young woman entering the construction industry?
Aultman: Learn from everyone around you, across all departments and experiences—from the CEO to the person who ties the rebar cages. When we listen, we are learning. Also, speak up for yourself. Others will speak over you. Be patient. You don’t have to talk over them but when they finish then take your time to explain your position and to share your knowledge. As you learn and grow, begin to teach others. We become better at what we do as we teach others what we do. Above all, make sure you enjoy what you do. There will be hard days and seasons, but finding joy in our work helps to get us through those times.
About Metromont Corporation
Metromont was founded in 1925 on the principles of faith, honor, and passion, and ninety-six years later, those values are still the foundation of who we are and everything we do. With nearly 1,500 associates across six manufacturing facilities in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia, Metromont is a leader and pioneer in the engineering and manufacturing of precast concrete. Most of all, we’re a trusted partner, working side by side with our customers from the earliest stages of project design through turnover of the completed structure. Across the eastern seaboard, the southeast, and even as far west as Arizona, our customers rely on us to provide innovative precast solutions and the best quality for their parking structures, data centers, multifamily housing, office buildings, warehouses, and distribution centers. And we do, because a trusted partner is who we are—and who we’ve been for nearly a century.
Want to learn more about a career in precast? Check out our workforce Career Center for job descriptions, career paths, job listings, and other helpful resources.
