Director of Marketing, Northern Concrete Pipe
A 21-year industry veteran, Robin Denman provides technical training on the design and installation of Northern Concrete Pipe’s precast products to civil engineering firms, municipalities and state transportation departments. She is currently chair of the American Concrete Pipe Association’s Education Committee and has served on several other committees in the past, including the Marketing Committee and Technical Committee. In 2008, she was the first woman to win the ACPA’s Richard C. Longfellow award. While she says the industry still tends to be male dominated, “women are encouraged to get involved at all levels.”
What do you like most about working in the concrete pipe industry?
The people in this industry are the best! I’ve developed many friendships over the years, from our own plant personnel to engineers from various firms or municipalities.
How did you get started in the industry?
In 1999, I started working for a concrete pipe producer in their logistics group. I moved up through the ranks and have been working as a technical marketing resource in this industry for 19 years now.
What’s your favorite thing about being a technical resource for engineers?
The flexibility of my job. I work from my home but travel throughout Michigan and Ohio. I may meet with engineers on the west side of Michigan one day, provide PDH training during a lunch-and-learn event in eastern Michigan the next day and travel to a jobsite in Ohio on the third day. It’s always different and does not require me to be stuck in an office every day.
What’s your most memorable project?
I don’t know if there is a single project that sticks out in my mind, but I feel a great sense of pride when I help an engineer save money on a road project by using the proper box culvert specification, or when I help an engineer realize they can tunnel concrete pipe underground without having to place the pipe in steel casing first.
If you were talking to a group of high school girls, what would you say to encourage them to become an engineer?
Opportunities for young women today are limitless, and women in engineering are no longer an anomaly. Decide what you have a passion for and pursue it—if you study hard and learn all you can, you will truly be successful.