Jessalyn Nelson is a Senior Associate at Walter P Moore in Houston.
Jessalyn moved to Houston to start her career after graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters of Science degree in Civil Engineering, both from Tufts University. She was then introduced to healthcare design at Walter P Moore.
Nelson’s first project with the firm, which she worked on as a graduate engineering during the design and construction phase, was the 19-story addition to Texas Children’s Hospital Legacy Tower. She was able to refine her analysis to allow the building to be expanded by an additional floor compared to the original structural design.
Other responsibilities included the analysis and design for the lateral system, specialty detailing and firm representation and observations throughout the construction of the concrete framework.
She has worked on many healthcare projects since then, including master planning and new building, renovations, support structures, etc. She has grown through these projects from a project engineer to a senior engineer, and then a project manager.
Nelson was awarded the Walter P Moore Horvilleur Award in 2021. This award is given annually to a young structural engineer who best represents excellence in design, customer service, and business acumen.
She is known to her colleagues as an excellent collaborator, who works closely and collaboratively with clients to come up with elegant solutions that are buildable for their designs. Then she works with the builder in order to turn those designs into reality.
