Krista L. Harper, P.E. ('86, Engineering Technology)

Krista L. Harper, P.E.

Vice President & Principal Engineer, Harper & Associates Engineering, Inc.

BS Engineering Technology, Cal Poly Pomona, 1986

Being great at math in school, Krista L. Harper thought she would be an accountant. But everything changed when she fell in love with drafting during her senior year of high school. In her freshman year at Cal Poly Pomona, Krista switched her major to construction engineering technology.

The design classes were extremely difficult and it was challenging being one of the only women in the program. Being married, she did not study with the men and often studied alone. But for Krista, a first-generation college student, failing was not an option, so she worked hard and persevered.

“I’m a firm believer in the learn by doing paradigm,” she says.

Krista worked part-time through a majority of college, and took an opportunity for a full-time job with a construction company, Matich Corporation, at the beginning of her senior year. Later Krista moved to Kasler Corporation, where she was project engineer on the 105/605 freeway interchange project. “As a woman in the male-dominated construction field, it was very challenging, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. It was difficult to get men to take me seriously at first, but I knew I could do the job and I worked hard to prove my ability to do the job.”

In 1995, Krista joined Harper & Associates Engineering, Inc., a corrosion and tank structural consulting firm, operating since 1979. She worked there full-time as a project engineer and learned the business while her husband, Andre, stayed at home to care for their first baby and worked to earn his engineering degree at Cal Poly Pomona. In 1997, after Andre graduated, Krista and Andre took over the company from his grandfather who was ready to retire. Since then, the firm has grown from $500,000 per year to over $2 million in 2018.

“Life is a journey, and each experience and job you have builds upon the other,” she says. “I learned things at my first job that still help me do my job today.”