Ilya R. Espino de Marotta is an engineer best known for leading the

Panama Canal Expansion Project The Panama Canal expansion project ( es, ampliación del Canal de Panamá), also called the Third Set of Locks Project, doubled the capacity of the Panama Canal by adding a new lane of traffic allowing for a larger number of ships, and increasin ...

as Executive Vice President for Engineering in the

Panama Canal Authority The Panama Canal Authority ( es, Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP)) is the agency of the government of Panama responsible for the operation and management of the Panama Canal. The ACP took over the administration of the canal from the Panama ...

. Espino de Marotta was appointed to the role in 2012 and was the first woman in the history of the Panama Canal Authority to hold the role. Espino de Marotta said that some male colleagues questioned her appointment and is quoted as saying, "I wear the pink hard-hat to make a statement that a woman can do this job." Marotta describes the Panama Canal Expansion project as "a dream job for any engineer". Alongside responsibility for the physical expansion of the canal Marotta also oversaw other investment projects including, all the construction contracts, new bridges and purchasing. Every month during the expansion phase of the project, she directed a videography team from a helicopter to monitor work on the canal.

Education

Espino de Marotta earned a degree in

Marine Engineering Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circl ...

from

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

in 1985. She earned a master's degree in Economic Engineering from the Universidad Santa María La Antigua (The Old Saint Mary University in Panama City, Republic of Panama) in 1996. Espino de Marotta also studied management at the Instituto Centroamericano de Administración de Empresas (INCAE). The Project Management Institute certified her as "Project Manager" in 2007. She is also certified as a licensed public translator.

Career

Espino de Marotta says that her fascination with the water was due in part to her fascination with scuba diving and the work of

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...

who was an explorer of the ocean and also pioneered the aqualung. Marotta has worked for the Panama Canal Authority since 1985, where her first role was in the repair workshop on the canal in Colón. She began working as a valuation engineer for the Canal Accounting Division in 1994. In 1998, she became the capital investment program coordinator for the Department of Maritime Operations. Since 2002 she has been involved in the expansion project and in 2007 became executive manager of resources and project control. In 2012, Jorge Luis Quijano suggested that Espino de Marotta replace him as the executive vice president on the

. Espino de Marotta was awarded "Outstanding Woman of the Year" in 2014 by the

Panamanian Association of Business Executives Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For m ...

. ''

Forbes Magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also repo ...

'' included her in its list of the 50 most powerful women in Central America. She was also featured on the cover.

References

External links

* (2016) {{DEFAULTSORT:Espino De Marotta, Ilya Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Panamanian women engineers Panama Canal Texas A&M University alumni 21st-century women engineers