Adelfina (Adina) Simescu
Adina Simescu lives through kindness, optimism, and leads with the goal of being a mentor to others. She is also head-strong and isn't afraid to share her opinion. She is smart and talented and her voice deserves to be heard.
Adina started her engineering career in the Automotive Industry right after university. She grew up and studied Engineering in Romania and earned a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
In Romania, getting into university is a competition. Adina originally wanted to study law, but the program only had 30 seats available and there were 30 people competing for each seat.
"The only way to succeed was to almost memorize the book. I was very disappointed when I didn't take it a second year," she said.
After realizing she always enjoyed math and physics, Adina found herself in the engineering program.
While in university, Adina was a part of a Folk Dance team. This team competed all over the world in places like Italy, Sweden, Germany, France, Egypt and the US. While in the US after 28 years of living in Romania, she met her now husband - they got married after three months of knowing each other.
"It was the best decision we ever made," Adina said.
Adina struggled to find a job in the US. She was still learning English and many companies wanted her to have American experience. After searching for awhile, she took an engineering job in the auto industry where she could have made as much working at Burger King at the time.
In the late 2000s when the recession hit, Adina got a job working with the Department of Defense as a Systems Design Engineer/Manager. She designed and built things like radar for missile detection, missile launchers and weapon turrets and lifting beams for nuclear reactors, etc. She loved this job, but her company was dissolved.
After this, Adina continued her career at Dominion starting as Mechanical Engineering Manager. This is a taking-on that didn't come without it's challenges.
"We would go into design reviews and people would put a few drawings on the table. I couldn't even follow them... I felt like it was so unorganized," Adina said. "I wanted the review to follow step by step of the customer requirements. I realized then how much I want Dominion to be successful, and how much I have to learn about all the equipment."
All challenges aside, Adina said it's always been in her to be a leader. When she was young she always wanted to be the boss, and she never questioned her abilities.
“Every time I’m assigned a new project I get excited, and after that I freak out. I keep remembering someone told me once, ‘You can eat a whole elephant one bite at a time. Giving up is not an option.’”
She finds her motivation from her parents. They pushed her in the best way.
"My mom was like the fire. Everything was done her way," she said. "My dad was the opposite. He trusted us and knew that we knew what was best for us."
Outside of work, Adina is married, has three sons, a cat and two dogs - a German Shepard and a Miniature Schnauzer. She enjoys ice skating, cooking, baking, and considers herself a very holistic person.