Business Woman of the Year is Deirdre Smith

Deirdre Smith is Vice President and a Principal of Duffield Associates, an engineering and science consulting firm headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, with regional offices in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey.  As Director of Operations, Deirdre is responsible for the performance of the firm’s technical services Divisions.  She also serves as a Senior Project Manager, working with her clients and team to ensure integration and collaboration of the firm’s technical expertise and the delivery of client-focused solutions.

Deirdre earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master of Science in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Delaware and joined Duffield Associates in 1988.  She is a licensed Professional Engineer and a LEED certified professional, and serves on the Boards of the Water Resource Association of the Delaware River Basin and the Committee of 100, where she chairs the Environment and Energy Committee.  She is a former Chair of the Delaware Section of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council and former Co-Chair and a founding board member of the Delaware ACE Mentor Program, through which teams of design and construction professionals mentor local high school students to inspire them to pursue careers in architecture, construction and engineering.  Since its inception in 2010 the Delaware program has reached more than 300 students and provided more than $45,000 in scholarship funding to assist student in advancing their career development through college or trade school.