The One with the Interns: Interns Out!

It’s David.

As my internship with Flatiron comes to a close, I would like to share my experience with the company as well as some lessons I have learned. 

Each of my weeks at Flatiron, I learned something new which included safety focus week, field work, estimating, survey and cost. 

Outside of the lessons during each week, my mentor assigned me to different daily tasks which gave me hands on experience. These tasks included sub mills, tracking supplies, snapshot reports, taking the lead with striping, setting up lane closures, and helping project managers with closing out old projects. 

My overall experience with Flatiron has been extremely positive and educational. I have enjoyed every day with this internship program—working with people in the field and learning more about this industry. Everyone in the office was so kind and helpful with getting me to my goals successfully throughout this program.

After my internship, my idea about what I want to do has changed some.

Like any other Civil Engineer when I first started the program I had my mind set for design. But, after my amazing experience with Flatiron and getting to see how to plan and then build in the field, I found that construction is very interesting to me and I would love to pursue it as a future career.

My next step is getting my degree in the fall and continuing to work in construction. My goal is to work for Flatiron and grow within the company. 

I highly recommend this internship program to anyone who is interested in construction and wants to learn and even have a little fun.

Well put David! Devon here.

My Flatiron 2020 Field Engineer internship was also one to remember. 

I spent my time at the Bush Intercontinental Airport Taxiway WB Rehabilitation Project—meeting experienced individuals who extended a hand in teaching every angle of the project to develop a basic knowledge of the operating procedures and policies to be successful. Every aspect of my internship was expertly planned out.

My Flatiron mentors taught me the importance of working hard and being ethical, and that safety always comes first. 

I was lucky enough to spend two weeks working alongside my project’s superintendent, Shane Flowers. These two weeks were “action packed,” and I was able to learn and attain a few of the attributes that he had to share. Learning how to manage crews, make decisions based on weather conditions, and manage trucking needs are key skills for me as I get ready to launch my career. Shane would often impress on me the importance of having a good relationship with our craft co-workers on a project. When the craft employees respect their superintendents and foreman, the quality and quantity of work will improve. 

As the internship comes to a close, I look back with gratitude for the intelligent, hardworking and kind Flatiron mentors that I had. I would like to extend a special thank you to Robert Shane Flowers, Mike Zanella, Jeroen Dijkema, Reddy Bharath and Alex Castellanos. For anyone else that was not named who played a role in helping me become better and improve myself while at Flatiron—thank you!