Catherine Woodworth
38, Area Superintendent
Hensel Phelps
Irvine, Calif. 

Catherine Woodworth’s entrance into the construction industry is a textbook example of how curiosity can open doors. She says she began drawing floorplans at a young age and was “attracted” to science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects in primary school.

In high school, Woodworth took AutoCAD training classes all four years, and a summer internship with a civil engineering firm at age 16 put her on the path to the career of her dreams. 

“During that summer of my internship, I also went to the US Air Force Academy for engineering camp through the Society of American Military Engineers,” says Woodworth. “That whole camp was the concept of build, then design. The idea was that in order for you to be a good designer you needed to know how to build.”

At the camp, participants designed concrete beams and sprinkler systems and built them, as well as other activities that helped teach them about infrastructure. 

Her internship exposed Woodworth to the construction industry, with the experience “opening my eyes to just what it took to design infrastructure systems.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in construction management from the University of Florida, Woodworth worked for Hensel Phelps in Miami, then transferred to Southern California as an area superintendent to work on projects such as the $194-million Caltech Chen Neuroscience Research Building and the $2.3-billion Delta Sky Way Program at Los Angeles Airport, where she led underground, sitework and apron paving for Terminals 2 and 3. 

She revolutionized large-scale apron paving by developing a comprehensive plan and cost-tracking system—her guide remains a valuable resource for similar projects today.

Woodworth joined the project development team in 2023 as area superintendent to provide field expertise and design management to support new project pursuits. She credits her father, who retired after 23 years working as an Air Force civil engineer, for instilling her with a sense of leadership.

“He was very much not wanting to influence our decisions in life,” she says. “He allowed us to create our own path and showed us the work ethic aspect of leading a team and being involved in your community.”

Woodworth has continued serving her community as a long-standing member of the Design-Build Institute of America, where she now is national chair of membership and chapter chair for the Western Pacific Region LA/Orange County region.