Auburn Students Attend Kiewit’s Women in Construction and Engineering Leadership Seminar

Kiewit Corporation, one of the largest construction and engineering firms in North America, hosts a two-day annual summit that draws women from all over the country. The Women in Construction and Engineering Leadership Seminar (WCELS), focuses on the development of leadership skills for women who want to work in the construction and engineering fields. Kiewit specifically looks for applicants who have demonstrated leadership skills and a passion for the field. This year, all three nominees from Auburn’s McWhorter School of Building Science were accepted into WCELS.

Every year Kiewit invites construction management faculty members nationwide to nominate up to three students to attend WCELS. “We have had success with one student being selected each year in the past,” said Assistant Professor Lauren Redden. “This is the first time we have all three going in the same year.” This year’s attendees include senior Fiona Mae Bangoy, a current thesis student who will graduate in December, and senior Sarah Scott, who is set to graduate next May. Underclassman and pre-building science major Julia Helms was also chosen to attend. “I was very excited when I got the acceptance email,” Helms stated. “It made me feel like I was taking the right steps toward having a successful career in the future.”

On October 12 and 13, Bangoy, Scott and Helms attended WCELS at Kiewit’s Omaha, Nebraska, headquarters. Helms says the opportunity is a valuable experience. “I am always interested in hearing how women have found success in a male dominated field.”