Todd Stringer Named NU Civil Engineering Alumni Organization President
Todd Stringer, E’05, was recently named President of the Northeastern University Civil Engineering Alumni Organization. Todd received his BS in Civil Engineering in 2005 with a minor in Business Administration and now works as a Senior Project Manager at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank in North Andover, MA.
Q1. Where are you currently in your professional life and what led you there?
After working for some of Boston’s most notable general contractors for the last fifteen years, I made a switch to the owner’s side of the construction industry. I am a Senior Project Manager for Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, providing owner project management and representation services for clients, typically in the tenant interiors market in Boston and the metro area. It has been a positive, progressive change from being on construction sites daily to working in an office. The experience obtained from spending the forefront of my career in the field managing construction first-hand has provided me with a valuable and deep basis of industry knowledge. It is a career path that I am thankful I took early on, and a path anyone in the civil industry would benefit from greatly. I am able to apply that knowledge and experience daily in all aspects of my work.
Q2. How did the College of Engineering prepare you for this career?
The rigorous workload and the reliance on independent problem solving serve as a foundation for my career. Working as a construction manager in a project management role, my career has been and always will be dependent on problem solving and the ability to think in a creative way. Northeastern instills a desire to continually learn long after you receive your diploma, which helps personal and professional growth long after finals are over.
Q3. What advice would you give students as they look forward to beginning their careers?
Engineering right out of school is typically a detail-oriented, heads-down type of work environment. I wish I had the foresight earlier in my career to understand the importance of networking and staying connected with classmates, colleagues, and peers. Boston is a small world professionally speaking, and the older we get, the smaller it becomes as we get to know more people in the industries we work in. Maintaining strong relationships starting at the onset of your professional career will only help you as you develop and your roles and responsibilities continue to grow.
Q4. How are you still engaged with Northeastern and what has been most rewarding?
As President of NUCEAO, I am actively engaged with Northeastern and return to campus regularly. Over the last year, we have grown NUCEAO’s social media platform to include a LinkedIn page, Twitter account, and Instagram, and we have worked with the CEE department and OAR (Office of Alumni Relations) to update our website. The board and executive officers have worked to organize and host several new events over the past year in addition to the alumni dinner held yearly in early May (students are encouraged to attend), such as a fall speaker series highlighting a key industry professional and the first annual senior class breakfast held during a capstone class. These events encourage the engagement, involvement, and active participation of alumni and students alike, strengthening the connectivity of alumni to each other as well as the university to provide interconnected personal and professional support, further adding value to the degrees which we all worked so hard for.