Tom VanDorpe, M.S.S.E. ('89, Industrial Engineering)

Tom VanDorpe, M.S.S.E.

President & CEO, VCA Consultants, Inc.

BS Industrial Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona, 1989

MS Structural Engineering, Cal State Long Beach, 2000

Tom VanDorpe attributes his success to his faith, family, business partners and his education at Cal Poly Pomona. Tom states that “Cal Poly Pomona is the biggest educational bargain for engineering students.”

Before attending Cal Poly Pomona, Tom worked for his father’s engineering firm. Tom’s father encouraged him to study engineering, and Tom chose industrial engineering because it included business topics. During the 1991 recession, Tom changed his career to structural engineering. As his responsibilities progressed, Tom’s industrial engineering education became very relevant to help grow the business.

Today, Tom is president and CEO of VCA Consultants, Inc. and has grown it to a prolific design firm with an enviable clientele of highly regarded architects, builders and government jurisdictions. Tom and his partners at VCA Structural have served as engineer of record for over $30 billion of new construction, which currently includes housing for over 500,000 people. The VCA Code division has performed plan reviews on over 40,000 structures of all sizes on behalf of jurisdictions. Also, VCA Green has worked on over a thousand new development projects saving energy costs and gaining certification through LEED® or other sustainability programs. Today, VCA employs over 100 professionals.

Tom advises young professionals to always do the right thing and to learn how to leverage their abilities through others.

“Find the right coaches and mentors, and don’t forget to show appreciation when they take their time to invest in your success,” says Tom. “You can go far in life by simply learning how lead a team and learning how to bring out the best in everyone.”