AN INSIDE LOOK ON ENGINEERING [CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT]

In this series of posts throughout the semester, we will feature an engineering discipline at Purdue. A current student will briefly discuss what this discipline focuses on, their favorite parts of it, and any projects they have worked on or cool opportunities they have had in this area of focus.

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Performing quality inspections, a pip rack,

during my first summer internship with

Bechtel Corporation in Baytown, TX

Downtown Chicago has always been my favorite place to visit. The dizzying views from the ground mesmerized my four-year-old self as I wondered how humans could build such marvelous structures! Seventeen years later, the process of constructing the manmade landscapes of the world still fascinates me as I continue my undergraduate journey majoring in Construction Engineering & Management (CEM) at Purdue University.

Here at Purdue, we have a unique program that all engineering students start in called, the First-Year Engineering (FYE) program. Students in FYE learn about each of our sixteen different disciplines of engineering. Sixteen different disciplines?! I was mainly interested in Civil Engineering, but I didn’t know there were so many other options when I first came to Purdue! I was excited to learn about each of them during my freshman year in FYE. Each week we learned about a different type of engineering and by the end of the semester I had it narrowed down to two: Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering. The two may seem similar on the surface, but it really came down to one question: Where can I see myself working when I graduate?

 My friend Amber and I on a construction 

site tour of the new Active Learning 

Center at Purdue.

What exactly is the difference between the two? I’ll try to give the short version. A Civil Engineer does the actual design for a structure, such as a skyscraper, before or even during the construction phase. This career path usually leads to a job where the engineer is in an office interacting with other engineers to complete design work. A Construction Engineer typically works outside on the construction site to manage how that skyscraper will be transformed from paper into reality. There are many challenges during the construction phase that the Construction Engineer will need to solve! For example, how can we install a giant water heater into a building if it doesn’t fit through the door?

Overlooking Paris, France from
the top of the Eiffel Tower
and studying the city layout

I ended up choosing Construction Engineering and Management because first of all, I loved that type of problem solving. Second of all, going back to the question of “Where can I see myself working when I graduate?” and I personally couldn’t see myself working in one office all day. I thrive in active environments, which is the reason why I love my major and the opportunities I have after graduation! The Construction Engineering and Management department requires three summer internships in the construction industry and helps students find these internships through connections with alumni. I’ve had two summer internships with Bechtel Corporation, one of the largest general contractors in the world, and am getting ready for my third after this school year! These summer internships are the perfect opportunity to “test-drive” my major and find what I am passionate about. I am even more excited about school after experiencing how my classes apply to the real world. Hopefully I will be landing a full-time position with Bechtel when I graduate and work on different projects they have around the world!

Taking tourist-y pictures in the
rain in London on the 21st Century
European Transportation study
abroad trip

I have already had the opportunity to travel with not only Bechtel for my internships, which were in Baytown, Texas and Richland, Washington, but I have had the opportunity to internationally travel with the Purdue Engineering program. I have already been to five different countries within the past two years! Last May, I went on a study abroad trip through the Civil Engineering department to the UK, France and Germany to learn about 21^st Century European transportation. On this trip we experienced the culture, learned about transportation modes in Europe, and saw all the tourist landmarks. I also went to Ecuador for a project I am working on in Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS). Our project is designing and constructing an Education Center in an indigenous community in Ecuador, so we had the opportunity to communicate with our stakeholders face-to-face and experience the culture! All of these experiences have fueled my passion for education and make me even more excited for what the future holds!  

Doing yoga on a mountainside outside
of Lumbisi, Ecuador

-Annie Gassner

Junior in Construction Engineering and Management with a minor in Environmental and Ecological Engineering