Norine Walker and Associates - Through knowledge lies the answer…

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“Through knowledge lies the answer…”

Norine M. Walker, PE President of Norine Walker and Associates, LLC (NWANDA) has always had a curious interest in how things work. A civil engineer by education, training, and experience, Norine continues to seek answers to questions and now helps others find answers, too. The link is made through training and education.

Transportation projects are NWANDA’s primary focus area. After Norine’s extensive experience working on the planning, design and construction of the $2.5 B Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project on the Capital Beltway near Washington, D.C., and other transportation projects, NWANDA has developed communication tools that are a function of the audience. It begins with an understanding of the audience and keen listening for key points and queues for the audience’s learning baseline. Translating technical information and applying the applicable tools results in helping others understand how things work, in their language.

Education is a key component on every project in which NWANDA is involved. From the technical content and public topics on the project’s website, to monthly community updates, posting phone messages on a call-in number, to responding to questions during public and community meetings, and even answering telephone calls from the community, NWANDA puts the customer first and uses the tools that are expected to benefit the audience the most. Communications with local, state, and Federal agency representatives likewise requires understanding of their perspectives and responsibilities addressed with communication tools to which they can relate and make decisions.

The training and education in Community Colleges in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland and university environments has provided another set of tools for NWANDA as the student audiences are motivated differently for each setting and are armed with books and other resource tools from which to learn. NWANDA addressed the Millennium Institute of Construction audience in McLean, VA with multiple tools for a very diverse audience. This audience of different cultures, education levels, understanding of the English language and learning abilities cannot be simply talked to but needs to be engaged in the learning activities. With communication as the focus, challenge NWANDA to explain the projects that you have with solutions targeted to your audience.