From engineering to IT: Louise Anne Comeau's story

From civil engineering to information technology to martial arts and beyond, Louise Anne Comeau applies discipline and a willingness to continuously learn through all aspects of her life.

As a Professional Engineer who works as a Business Success Manager with JDI IT, Louise Anne says that the skills she developed for engineering have been widely applicable in her 30-plus career at J.D. Irving, Limited, even as she no longer works in an engineering role.

“I’ll never be figuring out how many pieces of rebar I need to put in concrete,” she said. “But having learned how to figure those things out gives you the ability to solve problems throughout your career.”

After graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1994, Louise Anne began what would be an over 20-year career at Kent Homes, beginning in quality control on the shop floor to various director roles in engineering, pricing, inventory and warranty. While at Kent Homes, her experience with software implementation across the company led her to consider a career in IT. In 2015, she made the switch and has been with JDI IT ever since.

At the outset of her career, Louise Anne never thought she’d end up in IT.

“I thought it would be building bridges and house construction,” she said, but quickly noted that she’s since observed overlap between both fields, trading one form of building for another.

“For me, engineering is about management and improvement and finding a better way every day. Rather than putting sticks of lumber together, I put technology solutions together,” she added.

“It’s still finding the best solution for the best purpose.”

In her current role as Business Success Manager for Irving Consumer Products, Louise Anne ensures the business has all the IT resources it needs to succeed, whether it be applications, people or software.

Likening it to solving a puzzle, Louise Anne said her role involves finding the solutions that best fit the opportunities within the business.

“Engineers in school learn how to think. You learn how to learn. And if you can continue learning, the sky’s the limit.”

The ability to keep learning, problem solve and see the big picture are traits Louise Anne has carried over through all aspects of her life, from work to karate to music and art.