We meet the Construction, Engineering & Design Undergraduate of the Year 2015!!

Name: Jessica Dowdy
University: Oxford Brookes University
Course: Construction Project Management

Jessica is the Construction, Engineering & Design Undergraduate of the Year 2015 with Laing O'Rourke! She never thought that she'd win let alone be planning a two month trip to Australia!


The process began for me when I visited the TARGETJobs stall at a careers fair during my first year of university. Over the next couple of years I received weekly emails of job opportunities in my sector, including industrial and summer placements. While these were always interesting to read, I was not in the position where I could utilise these opportunities as I already had placements arranged. However, receiving emails with the words ‘Undergraduate of the Year Awards’ in the subject line did draw my attention. As I read through the emails and information provided, I thought this was a great opportunity and was highly impressed by what I had read about previous winners. Whilst reaching the final never even crossed my mind at this stage, I had been through a similar process for a slightly different award the year before which had gone a lot better than expected. Therefore, after careful consideration and discussions with various peers, I decided to enter into the competition, with the opinion that it was likely to be an invaluable experience and I had nothing to lose. Little did I know, I had a lot to gain!

The application stages were nearing the end when I chose to apply, so I had little time to fill in my personal details and answer the award-specific questions from the sponsor, Laing O’Rourke. Admittedly, I was so pre-occupied at work that I would have missed the completion deadline had I not received a call from one of the TARGETJobs Events team reminding me to finish my application, so thank you for that! The questions were thought provoking and challenging to answer within the word limit; yet they allowed me to express my views on two topics which I am very interested in so I enjoyed completing them. By contrast, I found the online tests really difficult and thought there was no chance I would be continuing to the next stage!

A couple of weeks later I received an email informing me that I had been invited to the Assessment Day with Laing O’Rourke at one of their offices. Nervous yet excited, I travelled up towards Nottinghamshire for what was a challenging but thoroughly enjoyable day. It was great to share experiences with the other candidates and to meet the assessors, some of which had been in a similar position to all of us not so long ago. We were even fortunate enough to gain an insight into the very technical and innovative engineering techniques through a factory tour of the Explore Industrial Park, where the off-site manufacturing takes place. Regardless of the next stages of the competition, I felt very grateful for the experience and it was wonderful to meet so many talented people; both assessors and fellow students.

Following on from this, the ten finalists received an email inviting them to the Grand Final in Canary Wharf; this was a shock to say the least! Receiving the invitation through the post and discovering that Fiona Bruce would be presenting was the icing on the cake as I have been inspired by her work over the last few years. The day itself was wonderful. Sitting in a room surrounded by so many talented, ambitious and hard-working finalists was extremely motivational; not to mention the attendees from sponsor companies who have all achieved great success in their careers. It was a great networking opportunity and very inspiring, particularly as a woman hearing Fiona’s speech and watching a high number of females collecting the top prize! Hearing my name called out as the winner of my category was totally unexpected, particularly as I was the only non-engineer, so thought I would be completely ruled-out! Sharing the stage and receiving an award from Fiona was surreal and didn’t sink in for quite some time, in fact I still don’t think it has! The other candidates were fantastic and I would like to congratulate them all and wish them every success in their careers.

Now that the competition is over, planning for my journey to Australia to complete a 2-month placement with Laing O’Rourke is just beginning! I cannot wait to get out there will make sure I keep you posted along the way.

Thank you to TARGETJobs, Laing O’Rourke and everyone else involved in the process. My advice to those of you who may be reading this and are in a position to apply for the 2016 awards, would be to ‘go for it!’ There is absolutely nothing to lose and you may end up surprising yourself just like I did. Good luck!


Congratulations Jessica and to all the other finalists!

Pre-registration for the 2016 Awards is now open here! http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/register

We caught up with Sarah Leggett - an Undergraduate of the Year Award winner from 2013!

Sarah Leggett M.Eng Hons
Construction Engineering and Design Undergraduate of the Year winner 2013

A little about me

Travel experiences and a love of Art ignited my interest in Engineering and building design. Graduating as a Master of Engineering with Honours from The University of Sheffield, I have a driven desire to continue to achieve at the highest level. Aside from my university studies, as a Grade 8 singer (ABRSM) I enjoyed performing in the University's Singers' Society. Prior to university, I achieved my Gold and Silver Art Award, Trinity College London ‘09-’10 and taught at a French primary school Jun‘09.

Construction Engineering and Design Undergraduate of the Year 2013

After winning the Laing O’Rourke award I embraced the opportunity of an internship in Western Australia on Remote Infrastructure Projects and acted as an integral member of the Digital Engineering Team on the Wheatstone LNG Project: Civil Works ISBL and OSBL. Additionally I attained an insight into the complex logistical challenges associated with remote mining and resources infrastructure; Rio Tinto’s Cape Lambert Port B Project; a materials handling facility in Karratha; and BHP Billiton Iron Ore Railway Line at Port Headland.

Overall through my summer placement with Laing O’Rourke, I felt that I achieved a huge personnel development, that I grew in confidence in my own ability and that I contributed value to my employer. I made some great friends with whom I have remained in contact. As a result of working alongside such inspiring and talented individuals I was better equipped to embark on my final year individual project at University.  My summer placement at the Laing O’Rourke Perth Office reinforced my passion for engineering and project delivery. This event marks a milestone in my personal and professional development as it opened my eyes to a range of opportunities and sparked an interest to pursue a career in the construction side of engineering. I greatly appreciated the mentoring I received from Mike Idoine, Lead BIM Engineer, and Caroline Crook, Senior Project Engineer. I would like to thank Tim Kelly, Project Director and the Wheatstone Team for such a rewarding overseas work experience.

My role and what I do 

My current role involves working with the Laing O’Rourke Group Technical Services as a Graduate Engineer. With hard work and preparation, I aspire to embrace all opportunities which come my way. I am currently getting involved with improving the way in which knowledge is managed within the Group Technical Services Team, in order that the lessons learnt from each project can be shared within the business more effectively.  One of my roles on the Graduate Development Programme is to achieve personal development and chartership with the ICE, whilst offering support to my colleagues within the Graduate Development Programme 2014 Cohort.

Working with the team

When describing what working with the team at Laing O’Rourke means to me, it is the welcoming atmosphere in the workplace and on-site, together with the encouragement and support from colleagues, which is what initially comes to mind. The excitement of working within the Laing O’Rourke team means that you are part of a greater vehicle for change within the construction industry. It is the sense of belonging to your team, and that your contribution great or small is valued by those around you which makes working for Laing O’Rourke rewarding.

To exemplify this, I would like to think back to how I felt after my two month placement in Perth. In all, I felt an integral member of the Wheatstone Team. From visits to remote Laing O’Rourke sites in the Pilbara, I felt the sense of being part of a community despite being geographically isolated. The team spirit and drive to achieve collective goals which I experienced with Laing O’Rourke Australia, I noticed to be reflected in the UK business through visiting the Explore Manufacturing Facility with the IStructE and at various Laing O’Rourke Sites and Offices during assessment centres for the Graduate Programme.

It is the exciting opportunity to be part of a collaborative, ambitious team, where all aspects of the business are driven to improve the face of construction, which is the reason for which I wanted to be part of the Laing O’Rourke team after graduation.

A day in the life

Currently every day offers a new challenge. As the Group Technical Services work for all aspects of the business, with involvement during tenders, while a project is live at site or post construction, there are continually new challenges and opportunities to investigate more efficient and effective methods of work and best practice.

Sarah is the 4th Construction, Engineering and Design Undergraduate of the Year Award winner to join Laing O'Rourke. Following in the footsteps of Krzysztof Sieledczyk in 2010, Maria Canellas in 2011, and Oliver Brookes in 2013. You can read about Brittany Harris, the 2014 winner on her blog here.

Could you be the 2015 Construction, Engineering and Design Undergraduate of the Year Award winner?

The competition closes on the 4 Feb, click here to enter now!