Alumni Portrait: Deepa Poduval Th'01

Deepa Poduval Th'01

Says Poduval, "I really ended up in the right place at the right time because so much of the work that I focus on now is related to sustainability and the energy transition, and I feel like those issues have never been more important."

Poduval lives in Houston but was born in Chennai, India. She earned undergrad degrees in mechanical engineering and economics from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, a prestigious Indian university specializing in science, technology and the humanities. As someone with a strong drive to pay it forward, Poduval serves as executive sponsor for WAVE—Black & Veatch's employee resource group for women—as board member at large for the Committee on Sustainability for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and as executive mentor for CEO Action, where she mentors senior diverse leaders to support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. She was also named one of the "Top 50 Women Leaders of Houston" by Women We Admire in 2023 and 2024.

Here, she discusses her time in Dartmouth's Master of Engineering Management (MEM) program and how it set her up for career success:  

How did you become interested in engineering?

I grew up in India in a family of mechanical engineers. My dad had his own engineering consulting firm, and my ambition growing up was to join my dad and take over the company and run it back in India. My dad would let me tag along to the office and help on different things. He had these little machines for taking vibration measurements. All of that was fascinating to me as a young kid. I remember being very wide-eyed and completely sold on being a mechanical engineer.

Why did you choose Dartmouth?

The MEM program really spoke to me because of the collaborative aspect between Thayer and Tuck. It allowed me to take probability and statistics courses, as well as business courses in strategy, finance, marketing and organizational behavior. It felt like the perfect fit for what I was looking for. I had always loved math and engineering, but I was also very curious about micro- and macroeconomics. I was looking for a program that would help me connect the dots between the two.

What was your experience like at Dartmouth?

I arrived at Dartmouth sight unseen. I had never even been to the US before! But I loved my experience. I really enjoyed the class size. It made for a very good learning experience in terms of the quality of dialogue that we were able to have.

When I think about professors who made an impact on me, Professor John Collier comes to mind. He was instrumental in bringing me to Dartmouth. Tuck Professor D'Aveni was another strong resource for me. He was undertaking research on his book on hypercompetition, and I had the opportunity to work with him and look at a couple of industries that he was interested in. One was the restaurant industry in New York and the other was passenger vehicles. I enjoyed being able to apply my quantitative skills and a business and economic understanding to help him with that research.

What do you do in your current position?

In May of last year, I became Black & Veatch's global sustainability leader. I focus on corporate sustainability and the steps we need to take to achieve net zero emissions as a company and achieve positive environmental impact when it comes to water and waste.

Our clients come to us with complex challenges surrounding energy and water infrastructure. For example, artificial intelligence requires a lot of computing capacity, and the data centers that create and house that computing capacity require a significantly high amount of energy and require water for cooling purposes. We help our clients better understand how to design and build the right infrastructure for their needs. Their preference is for renewable energy, but they also recognize that that's not necessarily available at scale for everyone, so we help them consider and think through everything from natural gas to nuclear to geothermal energy solutions. It has been a fascinating journey in terms of the breadth of clients and issues that we've been able to help with.

How has your Thayer education served you in your career?

I think that today's problems require a multidisciplinary approach. That's where the MEM program really shines. Having the Irving Institute now fully integrated makes the business case and the value proposition that much stronger. If you come at a problem from a purely engineering perspective or a purely business perspective or a purely environmental perspective, it will take longer to find the solutions that are needed. Having a multidisciplinary approach has given me the experience to be able to talk to engineers and finance experts and translate between the two. I am able to see the whole picture which has been incredibly valuable.

Climate change news can feel disheartening. What keeps you going and feeling positive?

I get asked this more and more now. For me, I think of climate action not so much as a swinging pendulum. I think of it more as a GPS destination. We might hit some traffic lights along the way or traffic jams and take slightly different routes to get to where we're going. We may do it faster during some periods of time and slower through others. But I think that our march towards this destination is robust. Overall, technologies like solar energy are becoming cheaper, and I think the penetration of cleaner, lower carbon technologies will continue to increase over time.

Why is it important to stay connected to Thayer and support the MEM program?

I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to come to Dartmouth. It changed the trajectory of my life and my overall perspective. I'm incredibly grateful. Dartmouth and Thayer have contributed singularly to who I am today professionally and also with the friendships I have and how I have evolved as a person.

I decided to contribute to Thayer's professional development fund to support MEM students so that they can get out there and go to conferences and network and get a taste of the real world. I think it's such an important part of the Dartmouth education. It's not just about academics. I believe we should also be teaching students how to integrate with the world and its current problems and challenges.