As the daughter of two engineers, Victoria Simanca didn’t have to look far to know what she wanted to be when she grew up.
“My parents knew how to fix everything,” said Simanca, Water Distribution Engineer. “I don’t ever remember them paying anybody to do anything. I was always so amazed.”
Her interest in engineering grew even more during her freshman year of high school, when her family moved from Venezuela to Miami.
“I didn’t know English, so the only classes I was excelling in were math classes,” said Simanca. “I fell in love with the field and I knew I wanted to go into engineering.”
Simanca completed her Associate’s degree in Civil Engineering at Broward College before transferring to the University of Central Florida, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering. While studying at UCF, she started at OUC in May 2018 as a Water Engineering Intern.
As graduation approached, Simanca received a job offer from OUC, which she happily accepted, joining OUC as an official employee in May 2019. Simanca credits the smooth transition from intern to employee to the support of her Water Engineering team.
“They’re my role models. They’ve taught me so many things, and I couldn’t be more grateful for them,” said Simanca.
In her current role, she divides her time between the office and the field to work with both residential and commercial clients, helping plans get from the design phase to the construction phase. Simanca said that while she never expected to work for a utility company, her experience at OUC has opened her eyes to the variety of opportunities available in engineering.
“The field is so broad,” said Simanca. “You can be anything, you just have to apply what you’ve learned.”
