Kevin Ho spent last summer as a project engineering intern for the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, one of the country’s largest construction management and general contracting firms. Working out of the company’s Baltimore headquarters, he assisted on bidding for Costco building projects and visited construction sites to oversee the work of subcontractors, including electrical, carpentry and flooring subcontractors.

“I really fell in love with construction as a result of that experience,” says Ho, who is graduating this month with a BS degree in engineering technology and is currently planning his post-Temple path.  

Ho’s father is from Hong Kong and his mother is from Vietnam. Born and raised in Albany, New York, he first attended the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York, but transferred to Temple in fall 2016.

“I was looking for a more urban environment, and Temple really showed me everything that I wanted in terms of a college culture and academics,” he says.  “The diversity is great. I’ve met people from all over the U.S. and the world. Some of my best friends are from Poland, India and the Philippines.”

All of which he has enjoyed discussing when, as one of the college’s OWL Ambassadors, he has conducted campus tours for prospective students. Ho has also served as the secretary of the Temple chapter of the Construction Management Association of America and the community service chair of the university’s Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers chapter. He also has been a sprinter with the Temple Owl Track Club.

Ho plans to work for one or two years before pursuing both his Professional Engineer certification and a graduate degree in engineering. His ultimate goal: running his own engineering construction company.

“There’s a stereotype that engineers are poor communicators, we’re all about math and numbers,” says Ho. “But that’s totally not true. A lot of engineers head Fortune 500 companies.

“Some of the best advice I got at Temple was from Dr. Robert Ryan (associate professor of instruction in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering). He said, ‘Always move forward academically and in your career. Never settle.’”