Engineering Tomorrow Welcomes New Executive Director

 Engineering Tomorrow has welcomed a new executive director in New York.

Takeaway Points

• Engineering Tomorrow Welcomes a New Executive Director.
• Former executive director Timothy McNiff retired and passed the role of executive director to the organization’s former director of operations, Megan Barrett.
• Ms. Barret has over 20 years of successful experience in education and nonprofit management.

Who is the New Executive Director of Engineering Tomorrow?

Engineering Tomorrow, a public charity dedicated to inspiring high school students to pursue a path in engineering, on Monday announced a transition of its leadership in New York, with Timothy McNiff retiring and passing the role of Executive Director to the organization’s former Director of Operations, Megan Barrett. Since Engineering Tomorrow’s founding in 2014, high school students across the country have completed more than 2.2 million individual labs free of charge.

Dr. McNiff steps down after serving as Engineering Tomorrow’s Executive Director since 2019. 

Bill Woodburn, Founder and Chairman of the Board, said, “Tim’s direction has been critical in our journey from holding events for individual schools to now averaging nearly 30,000 students attending Lab Day events, which feature inspiring engineers from leading public and private organizations like General Electric, CRISPR Therapeutics, General Motors, NASA, Texas Instruments and many more. I’d like to thank Tim for his years of excellent service to our mission and the growth of our organization as Executive Director. I look forward to our continued growth under Megan’s capable leadership as we work toward building a larger, more diverse engineering workforce equipped to tackle the many engineering challenges of the future.”

Ms. Barrett added, “One of Engineering Tomorrow’s greatest strengths is our team’s ability to adapt our format and labs as demand from teachers for accessible, industry-relevant programming continues to increase. I am excited to build on the strong foundation that Tim has established and lead this incredible team through the next chapter of our growth. Plans for the 2024-2025 school year, which feature 24 unique Lab Day events, are already well underway, and we’re looking forward to our most successful year yet.”

About Ms. Barrett

According to the report, Ms. Barrett, before her appointment as Executive Director, served as Director of Operations for Engineering Tomorrow, which she joined in 2016. As Executive Director, she will seek to build upon the organization’s significant impact and exponential growth in recent years, coordinating with engineering partners, administrators, and educators throughout the nation to further expand access to Engineering Tomorrow’s vital programming.

Before joining Engineering Tomorrow, Ms. Barrett served as Chief of Staff to the Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of New York, the third largest Catholic school system in the country. She brings over 20 years of successful experience in education and nonprofit management, including teaching in schools in New York City and Newark, NJ. 

About Engineering Tomorrow

Engineering Tomorrow is a public charity inspiring high school students across the nation to pursue a path in engineering through labs developed by engineers, mentorship, and hands-on instruction. The organization’s mission is to create a robust and more diverse engineering workforce to solve the engineering challenges of the future and build a more innovative world. All programming is provided to schools at no cost.