Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

• 2006 winner of Klinger award, the program's highest honor
  
• AGC student chapter
• Curriculum Committee
• Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) student chapter
• Learning Community Peer Mentor

Since sixth grade I have wanted to come to Iowa State for engineering. Throughout high school, I took all the math, science, and industrial technology classes I could. Even though I learned new materials in these classes, I still had a lot to learn once I got to Iowa State.

I came to ISU as an undecided engineering major and decided on civil engineering after my first semester. About a year later I changed to construction engineering because I wanted to be more involved in the construction process.

This past spring and summer I had the opportunity to work in Minneapolis with Ryan Companies on a Sheraton Hotel. I was on-site for the majority of the project and interacted with all the trades working on the project. I also analyzed bids, wrote contracts, and reviewed shop drawings. I learned so much about the construction process because I saw the progress every day. Everything I learned during my internship will help me in my last year of school and in my career.

• Learning Community peer mentor, Spring 2005

Unlike many students in Construction Engineering, I had never worked on any construction job. Throughout high school, I visited some of my father's different job sites and fell in love with buildings.

When I accepted my internship with a general contractor this summer, I was concerned that my lack of knowledge, as a first-year student, would shine through and that's all they would see. That was not the case one bit. They told me up front that they expected me to know nothing about construction.

My first task was to analyze bids. I had to make sure that each subcontractor had everything included in their bid price for the scope of work. So I borrowed a construction dictionary and looked up every other word it seemed at first. I asked a billion questions. When I needed help, I asked.

When I got to go on site, I had a better understanding why something was in a bid and why it was important. I also had a visual picture of what it was. I found that my willingness and my desire to learn more about the construction industry is what shone through.

• AGC student chapter
• ASC Student Competition
• Kappa Delta sorority

Every year Iowa State participates in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Competition. One year, I was selected to be on the Design-Build team, and the next year I served as the Design-Build team captain.

Through these competitions, our teams were given a partial set of construction documents and asked to complete the design, create a schedule, come up with an estimated cost for the building, and create a construction process design—all in 16 hours. We then had to present our design, schedule, estimate, and construction process to a panel of judges.

The team won second place the first year, and first place the next year. As a result, the team progressed onto the national competition in Las Vegas. The competition proved to be both challenging and rewarding.

I learned that I could do a lot more than I thought in a short amount of time, and I learned a lot about the bidding process. During interviews, potential employers seem particularly interested in this experience I had. I now feel more confident and more prepared for my future career as a result of this opportunity.

• 2004 Klinger Award winner (the most prestigious award given to one student each year)
• SALC VP of Student Alumni Association Membership
• Associated General Contractors (AGC) Vice President

As a summer intern with Turner Construction at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, I learned to coordinate multiple contractors on both parts of the project: the arena and the exhibit hall. It was my responsibility to make sure that all the prime contractors on both sides had everything properly installed and that it was approved by the on-site engineer and the on-site inspector before concrete was poured.

Two courses, Construction Engineering Formwork Design (ConE 340) and Construction Engineering Building Materials and Methods (ConE 241), proved to be beneficial classes because I understood why and how things were coming together. I found myself explaining to the on-site inspector's assistant why concrete behaved the way it did.

My internship at the Iowa Events Center meant I got to work with Turner Construction Company and The Weitz Company because the two contractors were joint-ventured on the project. I developed relationships with several individuals who provided me with advice for my future.