Kate Havel - Technology and Occupational Sciences

Kate Havel, a Marquette native and alum of the Building Technology program at NMU, also has a bachelor's degree from Michigan State university in merchandising management and a master's degree in human resource Management from DePaul University. After graduating from MSU and moving to New York, she worked in merchandising and eventually moved back to the Midwest to pursue a career change of Human Resources in Chicago, IL. It wasn't until she and her now husband, Patrick moved back to Marquette that she fell in love with building and all things construction while volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Fast forward many years of self-taught and hobbyist building, Kate enrolled in several NMU CM classes (for fun!) to add the educational background to her building skill set. She instantly fell in love with the program, courses and faculty to the point where she enrolled as a full time student with the goal of pursing her builder's license. In the meantime, she was also in the processes of running her small business DIYmqt, and creating the non-profit U.P. She Builders which both have a mission of teaching women and girls the basics of building and design.  After graduating from the building technology program in 2022, she began her current job with the CM team where she teaches as an adjunct faculty and helps with recruiting, event coordination, program outreach and expanding the Women in Construction initiative. 

Kate's most recent accomplishment involves designing and building (with the help of many friends and family) a nearly 5,000 square foot home in Marquette where she lives with her husband, Patrick, two kids two dogs and three cats. She is proud to say that she would never had been able to accomplish this massive goal without the NMU CM program.