With a career spanning more than 40 years, Aine Brazil has been responsible for the design and construction of nearly every building type and is widely recognized for her engineering achievements in the United States and internationally. She has helped shape Manhattan’s skyline, having led structural engineering teams that designed four major commercial high rise in New York City’s Times Square, 7 million sf at the Hudson Yards Development on the west side of Manhattan and such landmark projects as the 54-story Bloomberg Tower and Via 57 West. Aine designed many “transfer projects” over major active highways including the Greenberg Pavilion and Rockefeller University Laboratory buildings over the FDR Drive. Outside the US, Brazil’s work includes the 35-story Soyak Kristalkule Finansbank Headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey and the 43-story Palazzo Lombardia in Milan, Italy.
A native of Galway in the west of Ireland, Aine holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from University College, Galway, Ireland and a master’s degree in structural engineering from Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. In 2015 Aine was awarded an honorary PhD in Engineering from NUIG.
During her career, Brazil has received numerous professional awards for her excellence in the field. In 2018, she became a member of the National Academy of Engineering and, in 2017, was inducted into the National Academy of Construction and selected honorary member of AIA New York. Brazil also received the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Homer Gage Balcom Award in 2016 and the Ireland International Engineer Award in 2014.
Aine has been recognized many times for her contributions to the built environment, including being named one of “New York’s 100 Most Influential Women in Business” by Crain’s New York Business in 1999. In November 2006, she was honored as Woman of the Year by WX, New York Women Executives in Real Estate. Aine has been a leader on New York City Mayoral Commissions concerning building code issues including the Mayors Building Resiliency Task Force following Hurricane Sandy.
Brazil is passionate about encouraging women to join the engineering profession. She established a mentoring program at Thornton Tomasetti, Women@TT, to help the firm’s female employees grow their careers. As Vice Chairman of Thornton Tomasetti Aine has been an inspiring role model for many women. She has been a board member for NonTraditional employment for Women, the ACE Mentor Program of NYC and WX Women Executives in Real Estate.