Outstanding SWE Counselor

Danielle Schroeder, P.E., is a transportation engineer at Gannett Fleming, an engineering, architecture, and construction consulting firm, with more than five years of bridge and highway engineering experience. She is a licensed professional engineer in Pennsylvania and a certified Envision sustainability professional (ENV SP). Schroeder focuses on the rehabilitation of the physical infrastructure of the past through her job, and she inspires future women engineers through STEM outreach.

A dedicated Society of Women Engineers member since 2012, Schroeder is a life member and has served as a SWE Philadelphia Section board member since 2017. She leads the scholarships initiative for the First-Generation Students and Professionals affinity group, as she was awarded more than $25,000 in scholarships during her time in college.

Schroeder has served as SWE counselor for the SWE Drexel Section since June 2018. Being a past president, Schroeder uniquely understands the 10-week quarters, the co-op system process, and many other singular opportunities that Drexel University provides. She has leveraged this to relate to and mentor SWE Drexel Section members in topics including conflict management, co-op interviews, deciding between multiple job offers, and more.

The Drexel section is one of the most prominent engineering organizations on campus, earning awards at the local and Society levels, including the WE Local 2020 Outstanding Professional Development Event and Joint Professional/Collegiate Event, shared with SWE Philadelphia. Schroeder encourages the SWE Drexel community to “dream big” and has coached students to become SWE’s future leaders, serve on Society-level committees, and apply for and earn numerous scholarships. She has also helped them leverage SWE as professionals after graduation.

Schroeder is inspiring the next generation of engineers through extensive STEM outreach. She has inspired thousands of students through in-person and virtual events. As the first engineer in her family, she uses her well-established blog and social media pages to share advice based on her journey as an engineer in the infrastructure industry and to educate the public that engineering is an excellent career choice for women.

Her spark for engineering was ignited at a local SWE section’s engineering camp for girls, and she is deeply committed to teaching girls about exciting opportunities in STEM. Schroeder does this through the student outreach committee of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Philadelphia Chapter, by leading the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Philadelphia’s annual scholarship program, and in other roles.

Schroeder has received numerous honors, including WE Local New ELiTE Award (2023), WE Local Engaged Advocate (2022), and Outstanding Collegiate Member (2016). She has also received the Central Pennsylvania Engineers Week Council’s Young Engineer of the Year Award (2022), she was named one of ASCE’s New Faces of Civil Engineering (2021), and she received two awards from ASCE’s Philadelphia Section: the Community Service and Outreach Award and the Younger Member Forum’s President’s Award.

Schroeder graduated in 2017 with a B.S. and an M.S. in civil engineering from Drexel University. She enjoys traveling, snowboarding, playing tennis, and taking walks with her partner, Doug, and their rescue dog, Nemo.