How we spent summer vacation...helping create better urban environments

For many college students, summer is the time to escape the classroom and take a vacation from education. For civil and environmental engineering students Kyle Curie and Timothy Gualandri, a summer internship at Greeley and Hansen, Chicago, provided some real-world experiences and a jump-start for their engineering careers.

A leading national firm with more than 300 staff in 18 locations across the U.S., Greeley and Hansen, specializes in practical engineering, architectural, and management solutions for complex water, wastewater, and infrastructure challenges. As interns, Curie and Gualandri were exposed to a wide variety of projects and real-world situations designed to help them sharpen their skills in engineering, leadership, and business.

“Greeley and Hansen’s internship program offers students the opportunity to contribute to the firm’s passion for delivering engineering solutions that sustain valuable water resources and create better urban environments,” said John C. Robak, executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We believe our internship program is a unique blend of hands-on experience and mentoring in a professional work environment.”

According to Robak, interns work on a diverse range of assignments and projects in a variety of areas, including: design, feasibility studies, master planning, construction management, operations, and much more. To enhance the overall internship experience. Interns are matched up with a Mentor Engineer, hand-picked by senior leaders, and work along side their mentor on real projects throughout the summer.

As part of the internship program, Curie, who hails from Bourbonnais, Ill., and Gualandri, from Mokena, Ill., participated in company’s award-winning Designing Your Future Leadership Conference. This highly interactive, two-day conference held at the Chicago headquarters focuses specifically on career management and leadership development for future engineers. The conference showcases several industry experts presenting a wide-range of topics designed to educate engineering students on how to best manage their future careers and take ownership of their career path. Specific training is offered in foundational leadership skills, navigating conflict and change, learning to set goals, and teaching students how to build rewarding, challenging, and exciting technical careers while creating a healthy balance around work, home, and community.
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Contact: Christopher King, Greeley and Hansen, 773/220-6865.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.