Inspiring LA’s Female Youth to Pursue Careers in Construction

This past month, two of MATT Construction’s talented Senior Project Engineers, Lucy Egbe and Stephanie Martinez, spoke to the students of DIY Girls in Los Angeles about pursuing a career in construction. DIY Girls’ mission is to increase girls’ interest and success in technology, engineering and making through innovative educational experiences and mentor relationships.

Considering less than 15% of girls show an interest in STEAM during the critical ages between 4^th-8^th grades, DIY Girls is doing what they can to change the way girls perceive tech careers. MATT was thrilled to collaborate with DIY Girls as the organization actively inspires and serves girls in under-resourced communities in the Northeast San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles.

Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, an in-person event with the students wasn’t possible; however, Lucy and Stephanie were able to connect with the students via Zoom to talk about their experiences pursuing higher-education in engineering, and careers in construction.

Stephanie, a current Senior Project Engineer at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple Events and Program Building, took the students on a virtual tour of the current project alongside a 3D digital rendering of the building from MATT’s Navisworks software. Lucy and Stephanie shared some of their favorite projects to work on, along with some of the most challenging, such as the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

MATT’s engineers rounded out the session with a very informative and engaged Q&A session where the students got to ask Lucy and Stephanie more questions about their career paths, college experiences, favorite projects and successes within the field.

DIY Girls offers a variety of STEM programs for students in 5th-12th grade and is dedicated to supporting girls so that they can participate in STEM and the future economy. To learn more about Lucy and Stephanie, check out MATT’s two-part Women in Construction week blog series here.