DPC Consulting Engineers Internship
For the second semester of my senior year I worked as a paid intern for Dave Penny at DPC Consulting Engineers, a Mechanical Engineering firm on Encinal Avenue specializing in HVAC and plumbing systems. Below is my documentation of hours to date, but I am still a current employee.
DATE
1/28/2013 1/29/2013 1/30/2013 2/1/2013 2/4/2013 2/5/2013 2/6/2013 2/7/2013 2/8/2013 2/11/2013 2/12/2013 2/13/2013 2/14/2013 2/15/2013 2/19/2013 2/20/2013 2/27/2013 2/28/2013 3/1/2013 3/4/2013 3/5/2013 3/6/2013 3/7/2013 3/8/2013 3/11/2013 3/12/2013 3/13/2013 3/14/2013 3/15/2013 3/18/2013 3/19/2013 3/20/2013 3/21/2013 3/25/2013 3/26/2013 3/27/2013 3/28/2013 3/29/2013 4/1/2013 4/2/2013 4/5/2013 4/8/2013 4/9/2013 4/10/2013 Total Hours |
HOURS
1.75 1.75 3.00 1.00 1.75 1.75 3.00 1.50 1.50 1.75 1.50 3.00 1.50 2.00 1.75 3.00 1.75 2.00 1.50 1.75 1.75 3.00 1.50 1.75 1.75 2.00 3.00 1.50 1.50 1.75 2.00 3.00 1.50 1.75 1.75 3.00 2.00 1.50 2.00 1.50 2.50 1.75 2.50 1.75 86.50 |
Journal Entries
2/1 - I started my new job this week. Mostly I have just been settling in and learning how to use the software. Everyone in the company seems really nice and helpful which is great. Unfortunately I couldn't make it on Thursday which I felt really bad about since I just started, but they were very understanding and didn't seem to mind. I learned how to update CAD files, which seems to be my main job at the moment. It is a great experience because I am learning how to use PowerCADD and do something really applicable in industry.
2/8 - At the beginning of this week I was updating CAD files again. I am now learning how to go through each step of doing it and do not constantly need to be helped which is nice. I also work on the same projects for multiple days, so it is nice to have some continuity and be able to pick up on my projects where I left off - I think this is a benefit of working in a small business where there aren't lots of employees working on the same thing simultaneously. Later in the week I did calcs for the first time. The lady I work with is amazing and walks me through everything new I learn, they seem to be really invested in actually teaching me things. I loaded calcs for one of the same projects I had recently cleaned the CAD for, so I had even more follow through on all the phases of working on one project.
2/15 - On Monday they showed me how to pack and ship their plans. They have a huge printer in the office for printing full size sets of blueprints which is pretty cool. Also, my main boss asked me to use a typewriter to type up some stuff, but even though I was willing to learn he gave up on having me do it when he realized that I had no clue how to use it.
2/22 - I left for my college tour on Thursday and will not be back until next Wednesday, but they were very accommodating about letting me take the time off. When I was at work in the beginning of the week it was just routine stuff, mostly updating CAD files.
3/1 - I have done a lot of loading calculations since I have been back! Stuff seems to come in phases now, sometimes I am cleaning CAD and sometimes I am doing calcs. It is nice to see different aspects of the projects they work on because even though this job is an incredible opportunity it can get a bit tedious and repetitive at times. However on my college tours people were impressed that I even knew what CAD was when it came up; it is nice to be reminded of how grateful I should be to have this job. The work experience alone is priceless.
3/8 - This week they started talking to me a bit more in-depth about the 3D program they use called SketchUp. As always, they seem very supportive of me learning new things and I think I will get to start using this program and doing some different tasks soon. Apart from that just the usual updating CAD.
3/15 - I've been working on a pretty terrible project recently. Some companies and projects are just so much more enjoyable than others. I wish everyone did things the same way, but some files are just messy and a pain to deal with, and I feel like because I can't deal with them well I just make them worse. And then they haunt me and keep coming back and I have to work with my own previous crappy work and it sucks sometimes. But this is a good learning experience. It just makes going to work less enjoyable, and it can be challenging thinking that this is what I have decided to do for the rest of my life but 2 months in im already a little bit over it. But it will get more interesting...right? I did learn one new task this week which was exporting files from SketchUp, they seem to be slowly trying to get me more used to working with the program.
3/22 - I was out sick today, but the rest of this week was okay. This week's projects were a bit nicer. I did a really clean load calc on one project; it is always rewarding to look at something and know that you did a great job with it. Especially after having been feeling like I was doing a crappy job on the project last week. I am still working on the same projects for multiple days so there is a good continuity there - I get assigned a task and work on it until it is done, I get to take ownership for that task.
3/29 - This week was awesome! I actually did some real engineering design work, instead of just entry level basic tasks. On Wednesday I "drafted existing mechanical", which means that I got to place vents and other systems where they should go in the building. I actually drew in all the systems on the plan myself. I haven't done anything like this before, and it was fun to learn a new task.
4/5 - It was Spring Break this week, so I took two days off to do more college tours. My boss is a Cal Poly alumni, so he didn't have an issue with me leaving to go visit Cal Poly. In general it was a good week though, I definitely feel very settled in here now. On Tuesday everyone was going to be out of the office when I was scheduled to work, so my boss gave me my own set of keys so that I could work in the office by myself. It was an interesting experience not having people checking in on you or anyone to ask for help, but I was glad that they trusted me this much. There also wasn't any specific project for me to work on, so I was instructed to "play with SketchUp", and basically paid to learn how to use the program.
2/8 - At the beginning of this week I was updating CAD files again. I am now learning how to go through each step of doing it and do not constantly need to be helped which is nice. I also work on the same projects for multiple days, so it is nice to have some continuity and be able to pick up on my projects where I left off - I think this is a benefit of working in a small business where there aren't lots of employees working on the same thing simultaneously. Later in the week I did calcs for the first time. The lady I work with is amazing and walks me through everything new I learn, they seem to be really invested in actually teaching me things. I loaded calcs for one of the same projects I had recently cleaned the CAD for, so I had even more follow through on all the phases of working on one project.
2/15 - On Monday they showed me how to pack and ship their plans. They have a huge printer in the office for printing full size sets of blueprints which is pretty cool. Also, my main boss asked me to use a typewriter to type up some stuff, but even though I was willing to learn he gave up on having me do it when he realized that I had no clue how to use it.
2/22 - I left for my college tour on Thursday and will not be back until next Wednesday, but they were very accommodating about letting me take the time off. When I was at work in the beginning of the week it was just routine stuff, mostly updating CAD files.
3/1 - I have done a lot of loading calculations since I have been back! Stuff seems to come in phases now, sometimes I am cleaning CAD and sometimes I am doing calcs. It is nice to see different aspects of the projects they work on because even though this job is an incredible opportunity it can get a bit tedious and repetitive at times. However on my college tours people were impressed that I even knew what CAD was when it came up; it is nice to be reminded of how grateful I should be to have this job. The work experience alone is priceless.
3/8 - This week they started talking to me a bit more in-depth about the 3D program they use called SketchUp. As always, they seem very supportive of me learning new things and I think I will get to start using this program and doing some different tasks soon. Apart from that just the usual updating CAD.
3/15 - I've been working on a pretty terrible project recently. Some companies and projects are just so much more enjoyable than others. I wish everyone did things the same way, but some files are just messy and a pain to deal with, and I feel like because I can't deal with them well I just make them worse. And then they haunt me and keep coming back and I have to work with my own previous crappy work and it sucks sometimes. But this is a good learning experience. It just makes going to work less enjoyable, and it can be challenging thinking that this is what I have decided to do for the rest of my life but 2 months in im already a little bit over it. But it will get more interesting...right? I did learn one new task this week which was exporting files from SketchUp, they seem to be slowly trying to get me more used to working with the program.
3/22 - I was out sick today, but the rest of this week was okay. This week's projects were a bit nicer. I did a really clean load calc on one project; it is always rewarding to look at something and know that you did a great job with it. Especially after having been feeling like I was doing a crappy job on the project last week. I am still working on the same projects for multiple days so there is a good continuity there - I get assigned a task and work on it until it is done, I get to take ownership for that task.
3/29 - This week was awesome! I actually did some real engineering design work, instead of just entry level basic tasks. On Wednesday I "drafted existing mechanical", which means that I got to place vents and other systems where they should go in the building. I actually drew in all the systems on the plan myself. I haven't done anything like this before, and it was fun to learn a new task.
4/5 - It was Spring Break this week, so I took two days off to do more college tours. My boss is a Cal Poly alumni, so he didn't have an issue with me leaving to go visit Cal Poly. In general it was a good week though, I definitely feel very settled in here now. On Tuesday everyone was going to be out of the office when I was scheduled to work, so my boss gave me my own set of keys so that I could work in the office by myself. It was an interesting experience not having people checking in on you or anyone to ask for help, but I was glad that they trusted me this much. There also wasn't any specific project for me to work on, so I was instructed to "play with SketchUp", and basically paid to learn how to use the program.
Closing Report
I have greatly enjoyed and am very grateful for my time working at DPC Consulting Engineers as a paid intern. This has been an incredible opportunity and experience that I would not have sought out if it weren't for ACLC's graduation requirement. I hope that this engineering work experience will be very helpful throughout college and beyond as I pursue my career in engineering.
This was an entry-level position, and the other members of the firm were very supportive and trained me well. I learned how to use all of their programs and software to import, translate, and clean files. Cleaning a CAD file for mechanical engineering requires removing all unnecessary components such as furniture or other objects that did not translate correctly in order to have the file in the most simple form. This allows the file to be used for other tasks such as calculating floor and wall areas or placing heaters and thermostats without unnecessary distractions in the way. Every time a building plan gets updated we would receive new files that would need to be cleaned again and laid over the previous files to observe changes, so cleaning CAD files was a very common task. I also sectioned off and calculated areas on the floor plans and used elevations to find window areas in order to calculate heat loss. All of these calculations were entered into excel spreadsheets and formulas, so I have increased my fluency in that program as well.
I was assigned daily tasks by a co-worker, who walked me through new things and assisted me with any questions. An average day usually consisted of utilizing the skills outlined in the previous paragraph. I would open the file folder for whatever project I was asked to work on and usually either clean new CAD files or load calculations for them.
I did not encounter too many major obstacles while working at DPC. The daily tasks were usually very similar, and I settled in to the routine well. Although this stability and routine were nice, the work could get a bit tedious and repetitive at times. I think that my main obstacle throughout the course of my internship was finding ways to stay excited and passionate about what I was doing. I know that this opportunity will help me tremendously in the future, but it can be easy to lose sight of that when you are meticulously deleting circles out of a file. There is no easy solution to this except to try to keep a positive attitude. If I was feeling un-inspired I would sometimes open up the PDF files for the project I was working on to look at artist drawings of what the building would look like when completed. It is truly incredible to know that you are contributing to building a real building, and having a reminder of that end goal can be helpful. I also tried not to fall too far in to a routine. Even if I was cleaning the same CAD files over and over again, I would try to do things in a different order or experiment with different tools and techniques every once in a while to keep things interesting.
I believe that my internship at DPC Consulting Engineers lived up to my initial expectations for it. It required me to put in a lot of hours, which I knew would be a struggle, but I hope it will prove to be worth it in the future. I learned a lot and feel that I have jump-started my career in engineering.
This was an entry-level position, and the other members of the firm were very supportive and trained me well. I learned how to use all of their programs and software to import, translate, and clean files. Cleaning a CAD file for mechanical engineering requires removing all unnecessary components such as furniture or other objects that did not translate correctly in order to have the file in the most simple form. This allows the file to be used for other tasks such as calculating floor and wall areas or placing heaters and thermostats without unnecessary distractions in the way. Every time a building plan gets updated we would receive new files that would need to be cleaned again and laid over the previous files to observe changes, so cleaning CAD files was a very common task. I also sectioned off and calculated areas on the floor plans and used elevations to find window areas in order to calculate heat loss. All of these calculations were entered into excel spreadsheets and formulas, so I have increased my fluency in that program as well.
I was assigned daily tasks by a co-worker, who walked me through new things and assisted me with any questions. An average day usually consisted of utilizing the skills outlined in the previous paragraph. I would open the file folder for whatever project I was asked to work on and usually either clean new CAD files or load calculations for them.
I did not encounter too many major obstacles while working at DPC. The daily tasks were usually very similar, and I settled in to the routine well. Although this stability and routine were nice, the work could get a bit tedious and repetitive at times. I think that my main obstacle throughout the course of my internship was finding ways to stay excited and passionate about what I was doing. I know that this opportunity will help me tremendously in the future, but it can be easy to lose sight of that when you are meticulously deleting circles out of a file. There is no easy solution to this except to try to keep a positive attitude. If I was feeling un-inspired I would sometimes open up the PDF files for the project I was working on to look at artist drawings of what the building would look like when completed. It is truly incredible to know that you are contributing to building a real building, and having a reminder of that end goal can be helpful. I also tried not to fall too far in to a routine. Even if I was cleaning the same CAD files over and over again, I would try to do things in a different order or experiment with different tools and techniques every once in a while to keep things interesting.
I believe that my internship at DPC Consulting Engineers lived up to my initial expectations for it. It required me to put in a lot of hours, which I knew would be a struggle, but I hope it will prove to be worth it in the future. I learned a lot and feel that I have jump-started my career in engineering.