Load bearing shows engineer's strength.

• Position: Barbara H. Mulkey - Brief Article - Interview

When Barbara Mulkey went back to N.C. State to get her master's in 1982, she carried a heavy load. Her class schedule wasn't unusual for a graduate engineering student, but her baby-bloated belly was. Sitting for long periods hurt her back. Even taking neat notes grew impossible: The baby's kicks would jar the notebook resting against her stomach. "At first, I wondered how I'd do it," she says.

After her son was born, she considered quitting, but her husband, Jim, suggested a lighter course load. So most of the day, she played student - classes, studying, homework. But when the baby sitter left at 3:30 p.m., Mulkey was Mom. It took focus and organization, but it worked. She passed the licensing exam that year and graduated on time in 1983.

Sixteen years later, Mulkey, 44, is president of Raleigh-based Barbara H. Mulkey Engineering Inc., which specializes in traffic engineering. It redesigned the Charlotte Coliseum interchange at Interstate 77 and Tyvola Road to handle more traffic and designed a portion of the U.S. 421 bypass in Sanford. The company employs 53 and opened a Charlotte office two years ago. Revenue last year was $2.5 million, up nearly 600% in the past five years.

For Mulkey, the toughest part has been managing growth, but she has always liked challenges. Growing up in Duplin County, she enjoyed studying English but entered the male-dominated, math-manic world of...