#Eweek2026 Spotlight | Dione Moyano

Who (or what) inspired you to become an engineer?

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to go to my local university for a summer camp and learn all about engineering. I was able to explore the different engineering trades and see what each one was like. Discovering the kinds of cool projects you can participate in as an engineer inspired me to go for it. I’m very thankful I had that experience as I had previously put myself on the nursing track, but that summer camp played a large role in my pivot to engineering going into college.

Who is an engineer you look up to and/or admire?

My grandfather was an engineer I look up to and admire. He was a mechanical engineer and for some of his career, he taught at a university in the Philippines and in another part, he worked for Gillette in the manufacturing industry. He’s a big reason why I considered mechanical engineering over the other disciplines. Growing up, I admired his analytical explanations of why things worked, and I could tell he loved his job. I saw him as a successful person who was able to take care of his family and enjoy his work at the same time, and I found it to be very aspirational.

What is your area of expertise and why did you choose it?

My focus is on mechanical engineering. I partly chose it because I wanted to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps, but another large part was getting to see the potential applications of my trade. Mechanical engineering is the study of things that move. In the built environment, that means the components that move (air, water, and energy) from one place to another. However, mechanical engineering is also involved in other industries, such as the automotive and aeronautical/space industry. The broad application of mechanical engineering and being able to apply my knowledge to many different career paths excited me and was a big reason why I chose this path.

What is one of your favorite projects and why?

One of my favorite projects is a new construction building intended to be part of a college campus and house the construction trades. For this project, I designed active chilled beams, large air handlers and a central plant to serve classrooms, large industrial bay areas, and administrative areas, which proved to be a challenge I loved. The nature of the building also made me think about the end users, the students, who are learning about much of what I was designing. I was designing for ductwork and equipment to be accessible and almost demo-ready for students to inspect — in other words, celebrating the HVAC/plumbing design in the building, which was my favorite aspect of this project.

Dione provided engineering services for the Industry and Trades Center at Lane Community College in Oregon.

Tell us something about the field of engineering that is surprising or not common knowledge.

It’s surprisingly a field that’s open to a lot of interpretation and I think there’s a lot of room for creativity. Even in school where the problems are more or less straightforward, there are often still multiple paths to reach the correct answer, and many different approaches to the problem. This is even more true out in the field where issues are not quite as direct and a lot of times you’re missing information. You can give different engineers the same issue and you’ll get a whole variety of approaches to a solution. It’s actually quite important in our industry to be working with a good team of engineers; you get a lot of insight from others’ perspectives and that helps you expand your expertise and become a better cooperator.

What piece of advice would you give a young person interested in becoming an engineer?

Always stay curious! I’m a firm believer that one’s career in engineering ends when you’ve stopped questioning why. I believe by leading with curiosity, you’re giving yourself an opportunity to learn and, as an engineer, we’re always learning, whether it be a new piece of equipment, or a new controls system, or an entirely new way to design. Take some comfort in knowing that there’s a wealth of knowledge out there waiting for you to learn and understand — there is always something to learn!