Tag: SEPI

On my final day with SEPI Engineering, I visited a fourth department that was a subset of their overall company/firm. I say it this way as there are not only four departments in this firm, however, I only visited one per day. Tuesday was Transportation, Wednesday; Environmental and Planning, Thursday; CEI, and finally, Friday was SUE. SUE stands for Subterranean Utility Engineering, which has many functionalities and connections to the other departments. The SUE department is in charge of surveying sites before construction even has the concept of beginning, as the plans that the surveyors put together are the integral first step in any plan. I spent the day today out in the field, starting at 7 AM, with a reflective vest and a baseball hat in the hot sun marking off areas of a plan the company were beginning with two other guys for a substantive amount of time. It was hard work and the breaks were few and far between, but it was fun to talk and connect while also learning the ins and outs of the surveyors’ job. Water became a treasured commodity and sweat became a well-known friend, however after what seemed to be an eternity but what was actually around 6 hours later, we finally called off working to grab some lunch and call the day early, as the sun was becoming unbearable and one of the workers had his daughter’s birthday party to get to this afternoon. Overall, working with SEPI Engineering was a greatly fulfilling process and definitely opened my eyes to the opportunity of pursuing a career in engineering, and was a great way as well to meet some great, happy people who were more than willing to share every bit of knowledge they possibly could for me. I really appreciated all that SEPI did for me and am very thankful for the opportunity that I was given to work with them for the short time that I did.

Through my third out of four days, I was given the opportunity to leave the office space and try my hand in the field for the full experience. I was given my own hard hat and my own fluorescent yellow vest and trudged out into the dust and sand and dirt in my leather work boots, and after having a two-hour long session about the rules and regulations when in construction and doing construction work, we got in the truck and headed out to one of their project sites. Throughout the day, I got to visit a few of the sites that are currently in progress, as well as the plans for the projects as well as projected costs and lifespans. I got to visit their current site at Mills Park, where they are planning on building a new baseball field and a new section to the greenway that they have there. Unfortunately, there were regulations voided at that site, so for now, that project is being put on hold, and may not be finished for a while. It was another early start this morning, but not as early as I have to arrive for work tomorrow. Excited to see what is in store for me for my last day with SEPI.

On my second day, the planned schedule was similar in structure to the first, another day in the office learning the ins and outs of a department, this time with the Planning and Environmental department. I got to spend time with many interesting people once again who loved their job and were fully willing and excited to share information about what they do daily. I once again couldn’t help but be interested in everything they said and what they showed me, and I was allowed and encouraged to ask questions that enhanced the conversations we had. I got to look in on very interesting projects that their team had been working on for years, as well as projects they were just starting. I learned about how the information I had learned in the Transportation Department the day before linked up with and connected to what occurs in the Planning and Environmental Department. I went out to lunch on our lunch break with some of the people I met that day and had a great time talking with them and connecting over college talk, as they had just recently graduated. I had another great day at the office and I am very excited to get to go off-site tomorrow and the next day for some field measurements and calculations.

On Day 1, I went into the building up to the sixth floor expecting an awkward first encounter and expecting to feel extremely out of place in a desk-job. My expectations could not have been farther from what truly came to be. When I walked out of the elevator, and up to the receptionist desk as I was instructed to via email, I was greeted with a warm welcome and a smile, which I also received from the woman I had previously talked to over email, and as well from everyone I went on to meet. The environment was calming and welcoming, the building had a modern style with lots of windows and a great view over the area. The cubicles were nothing like what one would expect; they were open and personalized with a friendly feel. The department I was assigned to for my first day was the Transportation unit, which I overall found very interesting. To summarize my day in a sentence, I spent around 2 hours with a specialist in their respective division of the Transportation unit, of which there were four: Roadway design, Waterway design, Traffic design, and Traffic analyzation. There were presentations and videos as well as full walkthroughs on interesting, expensive, licensed programs and their functionality. I was shown through the processes of designing roads, water pipes, and traffic functions like roundabouts, as well as simulations demonstrating the flow of traffic in real-time on existing roadways versus proposed roadway changes. Overall, my first day was very interesting and I am fully prepared and very excited for my second day.