McNeese Students Spend Their Summer with Woodside Energy 

McNeese State University student Shelby Wallace and graduate Kaiya Scott worked with Woodside Energy in Houston, Texas, over the summer. 

Wallace, a chemical engineering major from Walker, discovered the value of collaborating and asking for feedback throughout the process. 

“At first, I wanted my work to be completely right before showing it to someone, but I learned that asking questions and getting feedback along the way often leads to better results,” she explained. 

Wallace came to McNeese as a soccer player and fell in love with McNeese, Southwest Louisiana and the community. She always enjoyed math, science and puzzles, and her dad encouraged her to try chemical engineering.  

“My internship helped me confirm that process engineering is the career path I want to pursue. I really enjoyed the work I was able to do and liked being involved in projects where I could apply engineering concepts to real problems,” she said. 

Woodside Energy is building a new facility in Calcasieu Parish and seeing that perspective helped Wallace understand how to work with the contractor, how different groups work together in the design phase and how much coordination and communication goes into completing a large engineering project. 

Scott, a May 2026 graduate with a Master of business Administration degree from DeRidder, discovered the value of accepting opportunities outside of her comfort zone including meeting new people, attending meetings, presenting information and learning about areas of the business that were completely new to her.  

“I realized that you do not have to know everything before you raise your hand. Sometimes the best way is to simply be willing to say yes and figure it out along the way,” she said. 

The internship with Woodside Energy helped Scott see possibilities for her career that she had not considered. Working in a large, international company boosted her confidence in her ability to walk into a new environment, learn quickly and contribute to a team. 

Scott said her classes in the McNeese College of Business prepared her more than she realized in looking at problems from both a strategic and practical perspective. She said the communications and collaboration skills she learned from group projects helped her as well.  

Scott chose McNeese because it was close to home and that practical decision was life changing.  

“McNeese provided me with the knowledge and experience to step outside of my comfort zone and pursue opportunities in the energy industry,” she explained. “Also, McNeese gave me professors who believed in me, opportunities to grow and a community that made me feel at home.”