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Students Live Day in the Life of an Engineer

2008-02-05

Maine School of Science and Mathematics Students Live Day in the Life of an Engineer

Two students job shadow at Maine engineering firm

Two students from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM) in Limestone spent their January term (J-Term) experiencing the day-to-day life of an engineer as part of the school’s internship program.

Chunan Liang and Dan Freedman, both seniors at MSSM, spent just over two weeks working for Stantec, an engineering company with four offices in Maine. Liang, a native of China, worked out of Stantec’s Portland office, spending time with the company’s engineers, marketing staff, and clients to learn all aspects of the business. His experiences ranged from touring a project site at Lawrence Municipal Airport and learning how to design an airfield lighting and electrical system to discussing marketing and how a project works through the government approval process.

Freedman, a Caribou native, spent his time in Stantec’s Presque Isle office, helping staff design floor plan options for a new terminal building at the Knox County Airport, a project Stantec is currently working on. Freedman’s assignment involved assessing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) design standards, visiting the project site, developing his designs using a computer design program (AutoCAD), and presenting his ideas to the airport manager and building committee.

“Dan did an amazing job with this assignment,” Bill Gerrish, Stantec’s office leader in Presque Isle. “For someone who had virtually no AutoCAD experience, our technicians could not believe what he was doing after just a few days here! We enjoyed having Dan here for two weeks and his work clearly exceeded all expectations.”

The MSSM internship program provides students with the opportunity to experience the working life of a professional in their career field of interest. MSSM interns are volunteers and receive academic credit for their internship based on a daily log, written report, and subsequent presentation.