Influential Women spotlights engineering leader MaríaAngélica Deeb

Influential Women is highlighting MaríaAngélica Deeb, PE, PTOE, RSP1, PTP, ENV SP, a regional director at Matrix Design Group with more than 20 years in transportation and civil engineering. The profile centers on her work in resilient infrastructure, mentorship, and ethical leadership across Arizona and the West.

Why it matters: - MaríaAngélica Deeb’s career reflects how transportation and civil engineering shape mobility, accessibility, sustainability, and long-term community resilience. - Her profile also underscores the role of mentorship and representation in helping more women enter and advance in engineering. - Her leadership spans public-service infrastructure work and professional organizations focused on sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

What happened: - Influential Women featured MaríaAngélica Deeb, PE, PTOE, RSP1, PTP, ENV SP, as part of its platform for women to share perspectives and thought leadership. - Deeb serves as Regional Director of Community Development & Infrastructure (Interim) at Matrix Design Group, Inc. - She oversees engineering operations, project delivery, quality assurance, team leadership, and business development in civil and transportation work across Arizona and the western regions. - The profile notes that Deeb immigrated from Bogotá, Colombia, to the United States in 1995. - Her engineering career began in 2000.

The details: - Deeb has more than two decades of experience in transportation and civil engineering. - Her background includes work across both the public and private sectors. - Before Matrix Design Group, Deeb spent five years with the Arizona Department of Transportation and nearly two decades with the City of Mesa. - Her earlier roles included transportation programming, project coordination, infrastructure planning, and capital improvement efforts. - Deeb collaborates with multidisciplinary teams, agencies, consultants, and community stakeholders on resilient and equitable infrastructure systems. - She holds leadership roles with the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Transportation Engineers. - Her professional focus includes sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion at regional and national levels. - Deeb is a licensed Professional Engineer in multiple states and holds several professional certifications. - Those credentials include PE, PTOE, RSP1, PTP, and ENV SP. - The profile highlights her belief that engineering should account for accessibility, resilience, sustainability, and quality of life, not just technical performance. - Deeb also emphasizes perseverance, continuous learning, and never compromising personal values. - She says engineers should be willing to discuss or recuse themselves from situations that conflict with those values. - She points to two mentors who helped shape her path: her father, also an engineer from Colombia, and a woman colleague who helped her navigate U.S. Professional Engineer licensing. - Her father helped her through difficult moments, including times when people reacted negatively to her accent. - She teaches Aikido juniors every Saturday and leads adults when senseis are unavailable. - She has practiced Aikido for 30 years. - The profile includes links to Deeb’s Influential Women profile and her Matrix Design Group leadership page.

Between the lines: - The profile presents Deeb as a technical leader who pairs infrastructure expertise with a people-centered management style. - Her emphasis on ethics, mentorship, and inclusion signals a broader view of engineering leadership as both operational and cultural. - The immigrant experience described in the profile adds context to her focus on resilience, self-confidence, and support for young women in engineering.

What's next: - Deeb says the profession will need to keep pace with changing transportation demand, sustainability goals, and new technologies. - She sees opportunities for more innovative transportation solutions, stronger equity initiatives, and deeper mentorship pipelines. - Her stated goal is to prepare future leaders to take over and improve the work already in place. - Influential Women continues using profile storytelling to amplify women’s voices and professional impact.

The bottom line: - Deeb’s profile frames modern engineering leadership as a mix of technical execution, ethical judgment, and commitment to building the next generation of professionals.