Building A Career to Impact the Industry and Future Engineers

Widener's small class sizes and hands-on learning experiences helped two-time civil engineering graduate Kevin Brown '09 '14 turn an early interest in the field into a rewarding career.

Kevin Brown poses in a hard hat and construction vest outdoors onsite.
(Photo credit: Urban Engineers)
Kevin Brown
Class of 2009, 2014
Undergraduate
|
Bachelor鈥檚 and Master鈥檚 in Civil Engineering
  • School of Engineering
Career: Construction manager

Throughout the course of one鈥檚 academic career, there are moments that define and direct a student鈥檚 future and success. 

Kevin Brown remembers that moment. 

The West Philadelphia native points to joining the ACE Mentor Program in high school. Learning about architecture, construction, and engineering in the after-school program sparked an interest in engineering. 

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 thinking about going to college, let alone college for engineering,鈥 said Kevin.

That interest would quickly evolve and put Kevin on a path to two civil engineering degrees from Widener that shaped his career and vision for the future of the industry.

 

Small Class Size, Big Impact

A graduate of George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science and the ACE Mentor Program, Kevin had a strong interest in engineering and science. To succeed in an undergraduate program, however, Kevin sought out the right learning environment.

 

鈥淔or me, I knew going into an engineering program was going to be a huge challenge so the biggest thing was the small class sizes,鈥 said Kevin.

 

Widener鈥檚 average 17-to-1 faculty-student ratio put Kevin on track to gain the personalized guidance and mentorship that he wanted from faculty.

 

鈥淚 feel like if I went to a bigger school I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to, or felt comfortable enough to, interact with the professors the way I did at Widener.鈥

Building Industry Connections

The two-time Widener graduate credits the university鈥檚 robust co-op and internship program for helping him break into the industry and advance in his career. 

 

Placements at PennDOT, followed by Urban Engineers, not only provided hands-on learning experiences, but connections for future employment.

 

鈥淭hose connections were huge,鈥 Kevin explained.

 

After earning a bachelor of science in civil engineering in 2009, Kevin graduated into an economic recession with a challenging job market. The connections that Kevin made during his co-ops and internships proved to be invaluable and opened the door to his career at Urban Engineers.

 

鈥淭hose two connections helped me to get that job,鈥 said Kevin. 鈥淲e鈥檙e now 12 or 13 years later and I鈥檓 still here.鈥

Leading with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Kevin returned to Widener for an advanced degree and graduated with a master of science in civil engineering in 2014. With more than a decade at Urban Engineers, Kevin acknowledges the role that Widener continues to play in his growth and success. 

 

鈥淭hat [degree] helped me move up within Urban Engineers and get into construction management and eventually getting my professional engineering license.鈥

 

Now as a construction manager in Urban Engineers鈥 Construction Services, Kevin continues to build his career and mentor the next generation of engineers. At each stage of his career, Kevin carries lessons learned at Widener, particularly his ability to speak to ways to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry.

 

Stepping onto a campus where the majority of the people looked different than him, Kevin explained, 鈥渉elped me to interact with people that I never had the opportunity to in the past. If I didn鈥檛 have that experience at Widener, it would鈥檝e probably been a different conversation and different tone than I鈥檓 able to speak in now.鈥 

Career: Construction manager

You May Also Like

Semaj Smith-Barber takes a selfie while on-site during his internship with GFT.

Building a Future in Construction Management

Semaj Smith-Barber
Class of 2028

"You can take what you learned in the classroom and then apply that to the real world. If we're going over a lecture and we're talking about framing and then we go out to a job and they're doing metal or wood framing, you can see how."

Nursing student Samuel Flood does a fireman carry during an on-campus emergency response workshop.

Former Marine Set to Take Off as a Flight Nurse

Samuel Flood
Class of 2027

"As a former Marine, it helps that Widener is a Yellow Ribbon school--whatever the GI Bill doesn't cover Widener will forgive. I plan to get my bachelor鈥檚, work in a hospital, then I can get into flight nursing and practice trauma care."