After laying the foundation for SPAAN Tech in 1998, an information, engineering and technology firm, she began a career that she turned it into crazy success. Winning awards like the US Small Business Administration 8(a) Graduate of the Year Award, Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, National Community Leader of the Year by the American Consulting Engineers Council and many more are more of her habit now! Adding to her strength, she devotes her time to public advocacy in Chicago and abroad and was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business in 2016 as one of the city’s 100 most-connected residents. She advises clients in both the public and private sectors on engineering, construction management and quality control.
In January 2022, she was appointed by the US President, Joe Biden, to the President’s Commission on Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Her on-ground knowledge as well as her courage and conviction pioneered SPAAN’s growth into a multi-disciplinary firm with expertise in public and private infrastructure projects including transportation, aviation and facilities.
Her DNA Construction
“I was always good at math. My father wanted me to be an engineer. I also had an extreme urge to prove to the world that I could do whatever I wanted. The three easily connected the dots for me.”
Her father, the super successful and famous Niranjan Shah, the conglomerate of a person, migrated to the US from Gujarat in the 1970s. He came with just a few dollars. In fact, he was the first person in his family to attend high school. A PE, FASCE, he is the man behind Globetrotters but he has put a lot behind it all. He has worked all sorts of jobs, educated himself and won himself a master’s degree in civil engineering to finally form Globetrotters. He’s a proud father of a young girl who launched her own company at age 24 – just 24!
“My dad is my constant source of guidance and I feel confident to make decisions as he has got my back.”
Smita is a self-proclaimed math geek. Unlike any other fifth-grader, she sat with friends in the back of the class converting word problems into algebraic equations. “I was such a dorky little person,” she laughs. Competing and acing math competitions in high school, she won numerous state-wide competitions and has still kept all her ribbons, medals and trophies.
This erudite leader has earned a BS in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University, an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – the MIT. She also holds a Certificate in Management Studies from Oxford University where she completed her thesis on the Culture and Leadership of Public-Private Partnerships.
She now solves engineering equations in a snap. In the past 10 years, SPAAN has grown continuously to generate more employment opportunities. “We have managed to reach the feature list of Inc magazine’s list of the 5000 fastest-growing private companies.”
A Walk in the Cloud
Early on, it was tough to get big projects. Initially, she struggled to make payrolls. “I am a woman of color – I couldn’t make an error. The engineering and construction industry is still male-dominated. I had to work a bit more than my contemporaries.” Eventually, she learnt to build a strong network by not saying no, by showing up and by being available.
Converting her weaknesses into strengths, she has come a long way from construction sites to political events to social galas. After college, she interned in the White House Office of the Chief of Staff, where she answered phones and filed papers two doors down from President Bill Clinton’s office. Two years later, she was appointed by the Illinois Democratic Party appointed as its youngest delegate at the 1996 Democratic National Convention.
Though festive is not typically a word associated with electrical engineering, drainage and hydrology, Smita uses it to describe many of her projects, including relocating Commonwealth Edison Company’s call-center in Oak Brook in the middle of a blackout, inspecting a $510-million renovation to the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line and consulting on upgrades to plumbing and fixtures in US Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago office.
She also organizes programs for the Illinois chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and heads the Delhi Sister Cities International Program, where she has helped coordinate trade missions to India for Mayor Richard M Daley and American Airlines. She organized the first Gandhi Jayanti event that became a catalyst for other community organizations and was appreciated by the Consul General.
In recognition of her efforts in building bridges between India and the US, with the Indian community and the community at large, she received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2007, honoring those “who changed the fabric of America”. Smita has served as the Chair of the Delhi-Chicago Sister Cities Committee, where she led a trade mission to India with the Mayor to promote economic, cultural and social exchanges between the cities, and recently hosted an event honoring Mahatma Gandhi.
Doing Well While Doing Good
She proudly carries Indian values with her and believes in giving back to society. She is affiliated with many social organizations and is a member of the MIT Corporation Development Council, Vice Chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission, Economic Club of Chicago and the Chairman of the Regents for the Loyola University of Chicago.
Humanitarian at heart, she serves as a trustee at Ann and Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and at the Museum of Science and Industry, where she works to contribute to the museum’s vision of connecting children and the sciences. She supports charity organizations like the Environmental Law and Policy Center, After School Matters, Special Olympics Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, YPO Chicago Chapter, MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering Visiting Committee, Loyola University Chicago Board of Trustees, Loyola University Council of Regents, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, Chicago Plan Commission, Chicago Sister Cities International, Wilson Center National Cabinet and Wilson Center Global Advisory Council.
“What keeps me going? Well, I started with a dream and I still have many. And I want to live each one of them – one day at a time. And these dreams keep me going.”