The Modesto Engineers Club recently installed Evangelina Paoluccio as its incoming president at the annual officer installation dinner. She is the 82nd president, following in the footsteps of MEC presidents dating back to 1932.
Paoluccio, a professional engineer with NV5, Inc., has been an MEC member for the past five years. She originally joined MEC to show support for the local engineering organization. Paoluccio said, “The Modesto Engineers Club was perfect. It introduced me to local engineers and has become like a second family. Everyone is close and loves to promote the engineering profession.”
MEC meets once a month in Modesto, located in California’s Central Valley, and serves many purposes for its 65 members and the community. It sponsors science and engineering informational talks, field trips, and social events, including a Valentine’s Day dinner, and provides annual scholarships to engineering students attending Modesto Junior College. During her term, Paoluccio hopes to increase the scholarship fund.
Paoluccio received a lot of support from the nearby Stockton community, where she grew up, when she first decided to become an engineer. She considers herself a product of that generosity as she was a recipient of the Community Outreach Program Scholarship, which paid her tuition at the University of the Pacific. “I hold scholarships near and dear to my heart,” Paoluccio said. While she was completing her degree she was encouraged to volunteer.
Her new position also offers Paoluccio the opportunity to showcase her creative side. “Writing ‘Field Notes,’ MEC’s monthly newsletter, has become a fun hobby. I try to incorporate a little of myself in it. Our newsletters have slowly transformed from a monotone bulletin into informational and, sometimes, light-hearted articles. I also periodically spotlight members. Most of us have fun hobbies. We are real people. I think it makes us more approachable at meetings and even breaks the ice in some cases.”
Along with her presidential duties, Paoluccio is a mentor for the Future City Competition. The nationwide competition teaches sixth through eighth graders to work in teams to build future cities. This year, Paoluccio and her husband, who is also an engineer, are mentoring a team of Girl Scouts. “We are now six weeks into our project and we hope to have a dynamic, knock-your-socks-off city completed by the end of January,” Paoluccio said. Last year’s team came in first at the state level and placed tenth nationally.
She is a San Joaquin Engineers Council board member and the Council’s regional coordinator for MATHCOUNTS, a non-profit organization that helps teenagers appreciate math. Paoluccio organizes the annual competition, involving about 80 middle school-aged kids, and the winners go on to compete at Stanford University in the state finals.
An avid gardener and mother to two young children, Paoluccio raises chickens and grows fruits and vegetables on the family’s 40-acre-almond orchard and farm. MEC’s new president regularly brings nuts and homemade jellies to share at NV5’s Manteca office—just another way she gives back to her community.
For more information about MEC, visit www.modestoengineersclub.org.