“Where’s the math?”

That question kept returning to Angela Christensen during a visit to Iowa State University as a high school senior. The Duluth, Minn., native liked math and science and was contemplating majoring in architecture. When an academic adviser began talking about the art classes needed for an architecture major, Christensen asked about math classes.

“They told me I should go to the building next door and ask about civil engineering,” Christensen said. “I had no idea what that was.”

She does now.

Since enrolling at ISU in fall 2012, Christensen has earned three degrees from the university, including two in civil engineering. She’s a project manager at Ryan Cos.’ Des Moines office and the lead instructor of a one-hour ISU course that explains the construction process from the idea stage to the completed project. Christensen took the course, developed by Ryan Cos., when she was pursuing her doctoral degree.

Between Christensen’s sophomore and junior years at ISU, she had an internship at a civil engineering firm in Minnesota. The experience involved staring at a wall most workdays and pestering managers for projects on which to work, she said. “I was severely underused and I kept wondering if that was what civil engineering really was.”

The next year, she interned with a construction company who gave her numerous project-related activities on which to work and allowed her to visit job sites. The differences between the two internships was “like night and day,” she said. “I never looked back from then on.”

Before the second internship, Christensen had little exposure to construction and was unfamiliar with the basic aspects of what occurs on a job site. During the internship, she said she learned about drywall, the order in which steps were completed on a construction project, and the difference between a job superintendent and a project manager. She came away from the internship realizing she eventually wanted a job in construction management.

Christensen decided to continue pursuing her major in civil engineering because of the strong foundation it provided in math and engineering, she said. She began working for Ryan Cos. in December 2019 as a senior project engineer. She became a project engineer in May 2022. Projects she’s been involved with include the development and construction of Amazon warehouses, and new builds and remodels for Target.

We recently caught up with Christensen, who explained the role of a project engineer and provided advice for companies that offer internships.

Explain the role of a project manager.

Project managers are hired by an owner, who either has a need for a new building or new space in an existing building, but they don’t quite know how to build it so they hire us. Project managers are in charge of taking their concept or design and making it real life. I’ll start by finding my team, which includes a designer, and then managing through the design and engineering process. And then we take that final design and make contact with different subcontractors to figure out what the costs will be. Once we finalize costs with the subcontractors, we hire them, schedule the work … and then manage the day-to-day process. That sounds easy but it’s not. Every day there are [challenges] that come up and we are looked to offer solutions.

What does a project manager need to know?

It would be nice if you were a builder, which means you know how to physically go out and build a building. I did not know that growing up and it’s something I work on every day. … A project manager also needs to know how to build relationships. You are working with a lot of different people and you need to be approachable.

You are a young person and a woman. How do those two traits affect working in a male-dominated field?

When I was in my internships, I felt lost and like I really didn’t fit in. Nobody looked like me. Nobody talked like me. They had a lot more construction knowledge. But, the nice thing in my internship was that I never felt the negative side of being a woman in construction. A lot of the [job] superintendents would treat me like a granddaughter. They were like, “Oh, this young woman is coming in and I have a daughter or granddaughter the same age. I will mentor her.” I almost felt lucky in that sense because I stuck out a little more and I got a little more mentorship. … I really feel like the more knowledge and builder experience I gain, the more I earn people’s respect.

Talk a little bit about the class you took at Iowa State that was taught by Ryan Cos.

A few years ago, Ryan Cos. approached Iowa State and told them that their graduate students were missing a skill: They didn’t know the whole building process, from beginning to end. A student in civil engineering is exposed to one chunk of the process and architects to another chunk. They are never really taught what comes before and after their part of the project. They are only focused on their own contributions. This class [called Design Build], for example, exposes construction engineers to the development process and architects to the building management process. It’s a really unique class that goes across every discipline or degree at Iowa State that’s relative to real estate management or real estate development. …

This year we have freshmen all the way to graduate students. We have civil engineers, construction engineers, mechanical, finance, business students, architecture, landscape architecture. The class is really unique because it brings all those different people together to talk about something they are all involved in and contribute to.

How has the class changed since you first took it?

A lot. The first year we had six sessions, or lectures, that were three hours long. The classes were focused on Ryan Cos. The instructors were really trying to sell Ryan and the Ryan way. Now we have 11 sessions that are each two hours long. We have lab sessions. We have quizzes. … Each week I have a different person from Ryan Cos. with me who is an expert in that topic. For instance, when we discuss capital markets, I’ll bring someone from the capital markets team to share their expertise on that topic. … And one of the biggest changes – we bring food to the students every Thursday. When you’re in class on a Thursday night, you’re coming for the food.

How did you wind up working at Ryan Cos.?

A lot of companies invest their time at Iowa State … and Ryan Cos. is one of the ones that you constantly hear about. They have plaques on the wall and have guest lecturers coming in to speak to classes. Everyone always had great things to say: “Our culture is the best. Our work is the best. Our people are the best.” When you are a student and you hear employers say that, you say, “That’s where I want to go.” … I felt like I had these constant connections with Ryan Cos. and then, when I took their class, it just seemed like that was the place for me.

What can businesses do to make internships they offer worthwhile?

Make the student feel like they are contributing and doing thought-filled tasks every day. Don’t make up stuff for them to do. Those students are there because they want to learn real-life experiences and they want to help contribute to your project’s success. Also, make sure they are being mentored by the right people.

Training is a huge thing. Some employers are not prepared to bring on interns even though they think they are. Many times, when the intern shows up on the first day, the employer just doesn’t know where to start. There’s no training. There’s no mentor. All of that needs to be prepared before the day the intern shows up.

Employers also want to give the [interns] a really good impression that [the employer is] prepared for them. Sometimes those first impressions make a big impact on that student’s future career decisions.

A lot of companies bring students in and then all they do is have them sit at a desk. That’s not the experience students are looking for. Being on-site is also an important thing I hear a lot from students.

When I ask students, “Are you interested in the office or field?,” in my mind I mean project manager or superintendent. In their mind, they hear “desk versus outdoors.” That’s not what I mean. I always end up clarifying that just because I’m an “office” employee – project manager – doesn’t mean that I’m chained to a desk. I’m not.

As a woman in construction, what advice do you have for other women in the field?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I did – and I still do sometimes – feel intimidated when I walk onto a job site, and … I’m literally the only woman and I am the one who is supposed to be leading this project. It’s hard to walk up to people and ask them questions or even tell them what they need to be doing. Getting that confidence in yourself is probably the most important thing. … Don’t be intimidated. One thing I’ve actually heard a lot of is that those guys are intimidated by you because you are the only woman there and you are the leader and they know that. In your head, though, you flip-flop it.

How do you spend your free time?

I love going to Iowa State sporting events. I had season tickets to basketball. Something that is probably my favorite thing is the volleyball team I’m on at Ryan Cos. Every week for 20 weeks, there was a group of six or eight of us and we would play volleyball together. Toward the end, a lot of my co-workers were not my co-workers anymore, they were my best friends. We started saying to each other how meaningful those nights were. … Our whole weeks were made. We were happier.

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At a Glance

Age: 28

Hometown: Duluth, Minn.

Lives in: Des Moines area

Family: Husband, Joe Christensen

Education: Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and Master of Business Administration degree, Iowa State University, 2017; doctoral degree in civil engineering with focus on construction, ISU, 2019.

Work background: Project engineer with RJM Construction, 2017-2018; graduate research and teaching assistant, ISU, 2018-19; joined Ryan Cos. in December 2019 as a senior project engineer, and in May 2022 became a project manager.

Other activities: Enjoys spending time with the family’s English bulldog, Kevin; preparing for the April birth of her and her husband’s first child; and sand volleyball.

Contact: angela.christensen@ryancompanies.com