Portsmouth, NH – Hard hats have become the best fashion accessory for young women in Portsmouth.
Portsmouth’s hometown duo, Bonita Boeckman-Cook from JSA Architects and Sarah Desiderio from JSN Engineering have been named “Top Young Professionals” in New England by Engineering News Record magazine. Sixteen construction professionals were honored, the majority from firms in Boston.
Bonita Boeckman-Cook LEED AP, an architecture job captain at JSA Inc., brings a special passion to healthcare design and has an uncanny sense of what it takes to create healing environments. As part of the design team for the new Northeast Rehabilitation Hospital at Pease, Bonita facilitated full-size bathroom mock-ups allowing the staff to simulate patient care movements. The result was a redesigned bathroom that became the standard for all 33 patient rooms. “It gives me a tremendous feeling of satisfaction, knowing I make a difference in the daily lives of patients facing monumental therapeutic challenges.”
Sarah Desiderio P.E., a rising young UNH-grad structural engineer at JSN Associates, spent less than a year post-bachelors degree before she was back in the classroom for three more years, juggling a full time engineering job with a masters program in structural engineering at the University of New Hampshire. Eight years later, her structural engineering creativity and competence are legendary among local architects.
When asked why she chose structural engineering, Sarah responded, “It’s the beauty of the technical professional. When you work to have a detail come together and your result is better than the standard solution, well, that’s pretty slick.”